Sorceress War
by animechick247
Summary: With the Organization gone, the worlds are once again in danger, but this time by the Soceress of Time. It's up to Hikari and the others to protect the future.
1. Time's Up

Chapter 1: Time's Up

**A/N: Dah, dah, dah! Ladies and Gentlemen we have finally reached the story that you have all been waiting for! The one, the only, Sorceress War! I must say I'm both super excited and nervous about this story. Mainly because it's not part of the Kingdom Hearts story at all and because I'll be adding characters that were never meant to be part of that game. **

**Since this is my first time winging it, I'll do my best to make you all happy. But I'm sure you guys are happy since Hikari and Riku area back! **

**Anyway, let's start this summer off with an awesome new story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

It was rather quiet at Radiant Garden. Maybe it was because it was nighttime and not a single soul was up. Or maybe it was because no one would think to head off to the Crystal Canyon when there wasn't any light out.

Either way, that didn't stop one person in particular. In fact, it was welcoming.

Taiyouko cautiously walked down the barren wasteland that lead to the Crystal Canyons.

With Xemnas and the Organization out of the way, she could travel without having to fear if someone was watching her. Her powers were nearly restored to what they were years ago, so she decided to travel back to her home world on her own.

She didn't want to leave Hikari behind on the islands, but she had a mission to fulfill.

She had someone that she needed to see.

It was hard to believe that it had been nearly twelve years since she last saw Lumen. After Xemnas plunged their world into darkness, she feared if anything happened to her sleeping friend.

She knew that Xemnas was really Terra and would probably search high and low for the woman that he loved most. But she feared that Xehanort would get a hold of her too. She didn't know what it was that Lumen had that Xehanort needed, but she wanted to make sure her sleeping friend was safe and protected.

"I'm sure Ienzo never told Xemnas where the Chamber of Remorse was when he was recruited into the Organization" she said to herself.

"But I can't be too sure"

She continued walking down the moonlight path that lead to her dear friend.

She smiled weakly as she thought of Lumen. She still couldn't get the image of her falling into a deep sleep out of her head.

"It's been twelve years since that tragic day" she said.

"Twelve years since you've been trapped into a deep sleep"

She looked up at the moon sadly and sighed.

"Oh Lumen" she breathed.

"I wonder what you could have been dreaming all of this time?"

She continued walking towards the chamber. As she was walking, she failed to notice that someone was following her in the shadows.

The figure smirked darkly as they watched Taiyouko. It had been years since they saw her and they just couldn't wait to spring their little reunion.

The figure slowly drew closer to the sorceress as she rounded a corner in the great maw. It was easy to get lost in this area, but this figure knew where they were going.

Taiyouko peered around the maw in case someone or something was near. Just because the Organization was gone, didn't mean that the heartless and nobodies were.

Sighing she continued her cautious path.

The figure was within reach of Taiyouko now and slowly pulled out a set of blood red daggers.

It was time.

"_Fithos Lusec"_

Taiyouko stopped in her tracks as she heard that.

The figure drew closer and held the daggers close to their face.

"_Fithos Lusec…wecos vinosec"_

Taiyouko felt her blood run cold as she heard the chant. She knew that chant all too well.

It was the chant of the sorceress.

And there was only one person that she knew who would always sing that chant.

Slowly turning around, she faced the figure that had been following her this whole time.

She had a grim look on her face when the figure cackled gleefully.

"Oh, I never get tired seeing that terrified expression" it said.

"How can one little song cause so much fear in your heart?"

Taiyouko summoned up her bow and arrow and arrow. Notching an arrow, she aimed it at the figure.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"How are you still alive?"

The figure covered their chest in mock hurt.

"Oh, you wound me" it said.

"After all these years, you still despise me…but then again, you never really did care for me. You only cared for the _other _one"

Taiyouko glared at the figure and pulled the arrow back, ready to let it go.

"I'll ask you again, what are you doing here?" she repeated.

The figure gave her a cruel, sinister, wicked grin.

"She's coming" she said.

"And she wants what's owed to her"

Taiyouko took a step back in fear.

"T-that's not possible!" she insisted.

"I made sure she would never return again!"

Taiyouko's shadow started to move on the ground and slowly rose from the ground, taking the shape of a sinister form.

The figure laughed at the scene unfolding and gestured to the shadowy form.

"I would rethink that if I were you…Taiyouko"

Taiyouko slowly turned around and gasped in horror at the sight before her.

Next thing she knew, her world went black.

The last thing she heard was the voice of the one person she feared more than Xemnas.

"Time's up, Taiyouko"

/

**A/N: Uh oh, looks like Taiyouko is in deep trouble. Just who are these people that want to get her? I'm sure you can figure out one of them, but what of the other?**

**I know this chapter wasn't long, but I thought it was a great way to start a new story. **

**Next up, we get to see our all time favorite couple! Hikari and Riku!**

**Please oh please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	2. Just another day

Chapter 2: Just another day…or is it?

**A/N: Hey everyone! After nearly a year of not seeing Hikari and Riku, we'll finally get to see them! I wonder how our favorite couple has been doing since we last saw them? **

**And just for the record, this story takes places two months after the events of Kingdom Hearts 2, so they haven't received the letter from Mickey about saving Lumen and the others. **

**Anyway, off with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"_Please, Laguna. Don't go" Taiyouko pleaded._

_Laguna smiled at Taiyouko and clasped her shoulders._

"_Don't worry, Tai" he said._

"_Once I defeat that sorceress, I'll come back to you, I promise"_

_Taiyouko looked at him sadly._

"_But you can't go. It'll be dangerous" she reasoned._

_Laguna just laughed._

"_Relax. I'm a soldier; I was trained for this"_

_He wiped the tears that pooled up in Taiyouko's eyes and gave her a tender smile._

"_I'll return to you, I promise" he said._

"_You're my reason for living after all"_

_Taiyouko leaned into Laguna's touch._

"_Laguna…"_

_Laguna pressed a kiss to her forehead and stepped back._

"_I have to go" he said._

_He turned around and ran after his squad that was loading into one of the ships._

_He looked over his shoulder and gave Taiyouko a smile._

"_I'll come back for you!" he called out._

"_I promise!"_

_Taiyouko gripped the army tags that dangled around her neck._

"_Laguna…"_

/

Hikari groaned as she woke up from her sleep. This was the fifth time that she had that dream of her mother and the man named Laguna.

She didn't know why she kept having that same dream, but it really bothered her. Why was she having dreams of her mother and some man that she knew?

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up slightly to look at her room. Sometimes when she woke up, she thought that she was still dreaming and would wake up back in the Gummi Ship. It was hard to believe that only two months ago she saved the worlds from Organization Xlll and returned to the islands.

She didn't know if she should feel happy to return home or be worried that something else might happen. It all seemed too good to be true.

"_I guess since I've been gone for almost a year, it's natural that I feel jumpy" _she thought.

Nothing seemed to change when she returned home. It was as if no one suffered when the islands were swallowed up by the darkness. It was as if it was all a dream to everyone.

Hikari sighed and flopped back onto her mattress. It was funny to see her like this. She was a strong, keyblade wielder and a magical sorceress, but now she was back to being a normal girl on the islands.

She covered her face with her hand as she tried to suppress a headache. This was not a great way to start the day.

She felt movement around her waist and looked to her right to see Riku sleeping next to her.

She smiled at the sight. Now this was a great way to start the day.

After they returned to the islands, Riku and Hikari officially became a couple. It was really no surprise amongst their friends that they would end up together. They did travel to different worlds just to find each other.

Hikari thought it was a dream come true that she would end up with the one she loved most. Ever since she came to the islands, she always wanted to be by Riku's side. Now that she had that, she didn't know what else to wish for.

She brushed a few strands of his hair out his face as she watched him sleep. Ever since they returned home, he would always stay with her when it looked like there would be a storm. It seemed he must have thought that she would be afraid and remember when the Islands were sucked up into the darkness. And being the good boyfriend that he was, he would stay with her for the night and make sure she wasn't afraid.

It was wrong to have a boyfriend and girlfriend sleeping in the same room and on the same bed, but Taiyouko trusted Riku. She knew that he was a gentleman and would respect her wishes.

Riku stirred a little when he felt Hikari's fingers graze against his skin. Cracking an eye open, he saw her smiling at him.

"Moring sleepy head" she said gently.

Riku gave her a tired smile before sitting up on his elbows.

"Hey, how did you sleep?" he asked.

Hikari smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Good. Thanks for staying with me" she said.

"Although, you didn't have to. It looked like there wasn't a storm at all"

Riku chuckled a little and wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I didn't want to take my chances" he said.

"Besides, I like staying with you"

Hikari giggled as she snuggled with Riku.

"You're such a freak sometimes" she said.

"But a cute freak" Riku corrected.

He leaned down to kiss her when a pillow flew across the room and hit him in the face.

"Hey! Knock it off over there!"

Riku looked up with an annoyed look on his face.

Ankoku sat up in her bed with a tired, irritated look of her own.

"I know I said I'd tolerate you staying in the same room as Hikari and I, pretty boy" she said.

"But if you're going to start getting freaky with her, I'll have none of it. This is my room too"

Hikari gave her nobody an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, 'Koky" she said, using her nickname she gave her.

Ankoku rolled her eyes and got out of bed.

"Whatever, I'm going downstairs for breakfast" she grumbled.

"Tsukiko better be making pancakes"

She left the room, grumbling all the way while leaving the two lovers behind.

Riku sweat dropped and gave Hikari a dull look.

"Remind me why you let her exist again?" he asked.

Hikari just laughed.

"Ankoku isn't that bad" she said.

"She can be really sweet at times"

Riku snorted.

"Maybe to you, but she isn't to me"

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Just give her time to get used to" she said.

Riku groaned and got up.

Fixing his outfit he headed for the window that he snuck into.

"I should probably go" he said.

"I want to get back before my parents wake up"

Hikari giggled. She thought it was funny how Riku would sneak out of his house like a rebellious teenager.

She blew him a quick kiss as he leaned out of the window.

"I'll see you later!"

Riku smirked at her and jumped out of the window to go sneak back into his house.

Hikari sighed and decided to get out of bed as well.

"Time to start my day" she said.

She went into her closet and prepared for her greatest challenge of the day: school.

/

"Aww, you two look so cute in your school uniforms" Tsukiko said.

Ankoku just grumbled while Hikari giggled.

A lot had happened in the last two months. Now that Taiyouko was able to stay out of Hikari's pendant, she was able to live on the islands and take care of Hikari herself.

It was a tearful moment for Hikari and Kairi. They had lived together at the Mayor's house since they arrived at the islands and they knew it wouldn't be the same. Luckily they were two houses away from each other, so they would be able to see each other a lot.

Another change was that Ankoku and Tsukiko were living with them as well. With Axel and Roxas gone, they found that living in Twilight Town wouldn't be the same. It was hard for Tsukiko since she lived there nearly all her life-or rather existence, but she was happy that she was able to stay with Ankoku.

Hikari looked up from her food when she realized someone was missing.

Where was Taiyouko?

"Hey, do you know where my mom is?" she asked.

Tsukiko shook her head.

"She told me last night that she needed to go somewhere" she said.

" She never said where it was though"

Ankoku let her fork dangle from her mouth in a lazy manner.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it if were you" she said.

"You're mom's a big girl, she can handle herself"

Hikari smirked a little but it was strained. She always worried about her mother, even when they were in the same room. Her mother suffered so much because of Xehanort and what he did.

Tsukiko looked at the clock and saw that it was almost eight.

"Oh, geez. You guys are going to be late" she said.

"You better get to school before you get a lecture from your teachers"

Ankoku groaned. She didn't like the idea of going to school. She didn't have to when she was in the Organization so she didn't think she needed it. School was pointless to her.

Hikari got up and grabbed her school bag.

"We'll see you when we get back" she said.

She tugged Ankoku by the arm and dragged her out of the house.

"C'mon, 'Koky. Let's go before we're late"

Ankoku groaned.

"I hate school!"

Tsukiko just laughed at the scene.

"She never changes"

/

Sora stifled a yawn as he sat in his desk. It seemed the young keyblade wielder wasn't used to getting up so early and having to go to school. After a year of traveling, his mental clock was messed up.

Kairi giggled a little when she saw that he was about to fall asleep.

"Sora, you lazy bum" she said.

Hikari laughed at the scene while Riku kicked his desk.

"Wake up"

Sora jolted awake and looked around like an idiot.

"Huh, wha?"

Everyone laughed at that.

Even Sora wasn't used to being in school again.

The teacher came into the classroom and started her lecture.

Hikari really didn't listen and looked at her journal. Instead of it being filled with notes from class, it was filled with notes about the dreams she's had.

Like who was Laguna and why did her mom look sad?

She really couldn't see what Laguna's face looked like. All she got out of him from the dreams was that he was a soldier of some kind and he really seemed to care about her mother.

She tapped her pencil against her desk in thought. It seemed even though she regain all of her memories, she was still seeing the past.

"_But I know for a fact that those weren't my memories" _she thought.

"_Could they be someone else's?"_

"Miss. Hikari, are you listening to me?" the teacher asked.

Hikari jumped slightly when she realized she was daydreaming and looked at the teacher.

"What?"

The teacher gave her a sour stare.

"I asked if you were paying attention?"

Hikari blushed and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Oh, of course" she said.

"How could I not pay attention to History?...that's practically my powers" she muttered the last part.

The teacher pursed her lips in a disapproving manner.

"Well, try to look like you're paying attention next time" she said.

She went back to writing on the board and continued with her lecture.

Hikari sighed with relief and actually focused on the class. A piece of paper landed on her desk. Hikari picked up the paper and saw Riku's handwriting on in.

**What was that about?**

She looked at Riku to see he had a worried look on his face. She smiled weakly at him and mouthed 'later' to him. Riku nodded and focused on the class.

Hikari sighed and wrote a few notes in her book.

She could defeat heartless, save the worlds and take on a powerful Nobody, but she couldn't focus in class.

/

"Geez, did you see the look on the teacher's face when she saw Ankoku sleeping in class?" Sora asked.

"I thought her head was going to explode"

When it came around lunchtime, the group went outside to eat by the trees. Kairi giggled as she recalled their last class when their math teacher found Ankoku snoring at her desk, not paying attention to what was going on in class.

Ankoku just shrugged and ate her ice cream cone.

"Why should I pay attention to the class when I have the powers to see into the future?" she replied.

"I could spend my time on other things than listen to that old hag going on and on about fractions"

Sora laughed a little while Kairi tried to hold hers back. It seemed that after Ankoku got a heart from Taiyouko, she became the fifth member of their little group.

It really warmed Hikari's heart that her friends were so welcoming of her nobody and wanted to be her friend.

Ankoku got along with Sora easily. It could be because Roxas resided within him or because he reminded her of her nobody twin. Kairi found Ankoku's personality to be rather funny since she tended to be sarcastic about everything. And Riku…well, Riku tolerated her. It was obvious that the nobody and the boy didn't see eye to eye with each other and would rather rip each other's heads off than be friends. But they got along for Hikari's sake.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"But I'm surprised about you, Hikari" he said.

"You never really space out in class. What was that about?"

Riku looked at her as well, wondering why his girlfriend acted so strange in class.

Hikari bit her lip and looked at the Bento box that she brought with. Even though they were safe on their world, her friend's still worried about her.

"I've been having these strange dreams lately" she said.

"They're always about my mom and some man named Laguna. It seems that Laguna is going off to fight a sorceress and my mother doesn't want him to. Then he leaves saying he'll return to her"

Sora scratched his head.

"That does sound weird" he admitted.

"But you usually have these strange kind of dreams when you remember something about your past"

Hikari shook her head.

"That's the thing, I don't remember anyone by the name of Laguna" she said.

"And, these didn't feel like they were my memories. They felt like they belonged to…someone else"

Kairi thought it over for a moment.

"Could it be that you're seeing someone else's memories?" she asked.

"Maybe they're your mom's"

"Or they could be this Laguna guy" Ankoku said.

"I'm sure you know a lot about your mother's past by now, so you would have known about this guy beforehand"

Riku ran a hand through his silver hair.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" he asked.

"I know I heard it somewhere before"

Everyone thought for a moment before Sora remembered.

"Oh! The dog tags!" he said.

"Your mom showed us these army tags back in the Castle that Never was. They said Laguna on them. Laguna Loire I think"

Hikari bit her lip slightly. Now that Sora mentioned it, she did remember reading the name Laguna on them.

"Maybe that was your father you were dreaming about" Kairi said.

"Or they could be his memories"

Could it be? Could the Laguna from her dreams be her father?

Hikari shook her head.

"I don't know if he is or not" she said.

"His face is all blurry and it's hard to make out his features"

Riku gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm sure it is" he said.

"How many people do you know that is named Laguna?"

Hikari smiled weakly. Leave it to Riku to make her feel better.

The bell for the next class rang throughout the school.

"Aw man, now we have to go back to class" Sora whined.

Ankoku threw her head back.

"Shit" she spat.

"Watch the language, will you?" Riku retorted.

"It's not really attractive to see a girl swear"

Ankoku gave him a dull glare.

"Screw you, pretty boy" she spat.

Riku just glared back at her, but didn't say anything.

They all got up and threw their garbage away before they went back to class.

Hikari looked up at the sky for a moment as she thought about her dream.

"_Could I be really having dreams about my father?" _she wondered.

She shook her head and looked at the ground.

"_No, I can't" _she thought.

"_I don't even know anything about him, let alone what he looks like"_

She quickly followed after her friends and went to her next class.

It seemed like it really was just another day…sort of.

/

**A/N: Yay! The gang's back! I'm sure you're all super happy to see them again!**

**It seems like Ankoku and Riku don't get along real well. And I should apologize in advance for Ankoku's language. She'll tend to have a foul mouth on her and I know that really isn't 'Disney' like, but that's Ankoku's character. So for those of you who might be offended, I apologize, but I have no control over her.**

**And Hikari is starting to have memories of Laguna! What could that mean?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	3. Moments like these

Chapter 3: Moments like these

**A/N: I'm so happy that everyone is glad to see Riku and Hikari again. I have to say, I was too when I wrote them. They're my favorite couple after all. **

**And since you guys are such awesome fans, this chapter mostly deals with our lovely couple!**

**Hey, I've been thinking about this for a while. If my oc's had voice actors, who do you think would play them? I thought Laura Bailey would play an awesome Hikari, but I'll let you guys decide. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Students ran out of school when it was the end of the day. It seemed that everyone wanted to return home as much as Hikari did. She never thought that sitting in class listening to lectures was worse than fighting heartless.

Ankoku voiced her annoyance when they got out of school and wasn't shy about.

"Man, that was horrible!" she said.

"I can't believe people go to this place every single day! I didn't have to go to school when I was stuck with the Organization so I don't know why I have to go now!"

Riku just rolled his eyes and bit his tongue to prevent him from saying anything. He still didn't understand why Hikari insisted that Ankoku should exist.

Sora seemed to agree with Ankoku and complained with her as well.

"Tell me about!" he said.

"I have to study for three tests tonight! I would rather fight a horde of heartless than do this"

Ankoku pumped her fist in agitation.

"This is bull crap!" she said.

Hikari covered her mouth when people started looking.

"Please calm down, Ankoku" she said.

"People are watching"

Ankoku just scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Fine" she grumbled.

Riku snorted.

"You'll listen to her but you won't listen to us" he said.

Ankoku stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's because I like her and I think you're super annoying" she said.

Riku felt his eye twitch in annoyance. Sometimes he just wanted to use his keyblade on her.

Hikar just laughed nervously, trying to defuse the tension between them. She knew Ankoku and Riku didn't see eye to eye and wanted to change that.

"I-it's getting late" she said.

"Why don't we just head on back?"

Ankoku yawn in a bored fashion.

"After having to stay at school all day, I'm going to treat myself to some ice cream" she said.

Kairi brightened up at that idea.

"That sounds really good right now. I want some too" she said.

Sora smiled and placed his hands behind his head.

"I'm in"

Hikari smiled and shook her head.

"I'll pass" she said.

"It's been a long day and I just want to head home"

Ankoku shrugged and looked at Riku.

"What about you, pretty boy?" she asked.

Riku growled at the nickname.

"I'm heading back too"

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"You're loss then"

She pushed Sora and Kairi forward to the ice cream parlor, not caring that the other two were being party poopers.

"While you two do nothing but being boring, we're going to stuff our face with frozen goodness!"

Hikari waked them as they left.

"Try to be home within an hour" she said.

"Tsukiko will get mad if you don't"

Ankoku just waved her off and headed to her favorite spot on the island.

Hikari sighed and looked up at Riku.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

Riku gave her a smirk and held out his hand.

"I think I can come up with something"

Hikari accepted his hand and let him take her away to who knows where.

/

The salt in the air felt so relaxing to Hikari as she gazed out at the ocean. Riku brought her to the docks that kept their boats for the island. It was too late to head to the island now, but just watching it was good enough.

So much had happened on that tiny island. It was the place where her journey as a keyblade wielder started and where it ended.

She tucked her hair back as the wind picked up. She watched as the sunset over the island, making it seem like it was glowing.

"I know I've said it once before and I'll say it again" she said.

"I just never get tired of looking at the sunset"

Riku smirked and watched the sunset as well.

The two of them watched the sunset for a while before they heard voices.

"Hey daddy! Pick me up!"

Hikari turned around to see a small girl being carried by her father. The little girl looked so happy being held by her father while the father smiled and hugged the girl in return.

She felt a stab in her heart at the sight. Ever since she found out that Xemnas wasn't her biological father, she always wondered what her real father was like. How would he have reacted if she was in his life? Would he carry her around like the father did with his child? Would he love her unconditionally even though she was a sorceress?

These were feelings that she wished weren't trapped within her heart.

Riku saw the sad look in Hikari's eyes and couldn't help but feel torn. He knew how Hikari secretly longed to know who her father was and what he was like. How she wished to have the love and protection that only a father could bring.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah…I will be" she said.

Riku kissed the top of her head in a soothing manner.

"I'm sure if you ask your mom about your dad, she would be more than happy to tell you" he said.

"You have the right to know about your past"

Hikari looked at the ground.

"I've thought about it, but I was always afraid to ask" she said.

"What if he was like Xemnas? He ruined my image of what a father should be like, so I don't know if I want to find out what kind of person my real father was like"

She gave him a weak smile.

"Besides, I have my older brother Leon" she said.

"He's been a father to me, so maybe that's good enough"

Riku just gave her a look and tugged on her ribbon.

"That still doesn't cover that fact of knowing where you came from" he said.

"Even if your real father isn't like Xemnas or your brother…I'm sure you want to know what kind of person he was"

Hikari sighed.

"I guess you're right" she said.

She gave him a look.

"I always hate it when you're right"

Riku just gave her a cocky smirk.

"If you hated it, then why would you date me?" he taunted.

Hikari stuck her tongue out causing Riku to laugh.

"You can be so childish at times that it's cute" he said.

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Cute you say?"

She waved her hand slightly and used her magic to have the ocean water spring up and splash Riku.

"Is that cute for you?" she cooed.

Riku wiped the water out of his face and gave her a look.

"Oh, it's on now" he said.

Hikari screamed and ran away from Riku as he tried to pick her up and throw her in the water. She laughed as she ran across the sand and kept splashing him as he got close. Riku managed to get the upper hand in the end and picked her up and threw her in the water. Hikari latched onto him and had him fall in the water with her as well.

The two of them laughed, despite the fact that they were soaking wet.

"What was the point in that?" Hikari laughed.

Riku just shrugged as he smirked.

"I don't know, but I got to see you laugh"

Hikari just shook her head.

"You're so weird"

Riku shrugged.

"Hey, you love me that way"

Hikari just snorted and leaned into him for a kiss. It was wonderful knowing that she could kiss him as much as she wanted without having to feel like an idiot. She grew up having a huge crush on him and wishing that he would kiss her and now that he did, she wanted to have it happen all the time.

They both got out of the water and headed back up the shore to dry off. If they went home soaking wet, Tsukiko would ask them what they were doing while Ankoku chewed Riku out.

They sat at one of the nearby benches and dried off before they would head back.

Hikari leaned against Riku as they sat in peaceful silence. It was hard for the two of them to be alone like this. After everyone returned to the islands, they wanted to stay close together in case something happened. It was touching gesture, but Hikari wanted to spend time alone with Riku.

She looked at the ground to see a flower near the bench. She came up with an idea and picked up the flower.

"Hey, Riku. Watch this"

She placed the flower in her hand and slowly curled her fingers around it. When she opened her hand again, the flower transformed into a white feather.

Riku smirked at the little show.

"You're getting really good with magic" he said.

Hikari smiled as she shrugged.

"Kind of have to when your mom drills it into your head" she said.

"But I'm sure it'll come to use later down the road"

Riku looked up at the sky in thought.

"Let's home that doesn't happen any time soon"

Hikari nodded. Peace was the only thing they wanted right now.

The wind picked up and blew the feather out of Hikari's hand. The young sorceress watched as the feather floated through the sky.

It seemed a storm was going to come soon.

/

**A/N: I know this chapter was kind of short, but nothing really happens while they're on the islands. But have no fear, it'll start to pick up in the next two chapters before they go off on another adventure.**

**And for all you Final Fantasy fans out there, I'm sure you know where the feather scene came from.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	4. The man with the machine gun

Chapter 4: The man with the machine gun

**A/N: Howdy! I'm sure you can tell by the title that we'll be seeing more of Laguna! Since this story is about Hikari learning more about her father, it's obvious that we more about his past right?**

**And for those of you who picked up the Final Fantasy reference in the last chapter, you get a cookie! Since this story deals a lot with characters from Final Fantasy 8, there are going to be a lot of references from that game. I hope you don't mind!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's!**

**Enjoy!**

/

"Come on! Is that the best you can do?"

Ankoku held her keyblades by her side in a taunting manner.

"I can do this in my sleep!"

Sora and Riku glared at her as they held their keyblades tightly. They were not going to lose to the likes of her.

A week went by on the islands. Nothing changed save for going to school and Ankoku causing problems. The group thought it would be a good idea to spar a little since they had a free day. They couldn't fight using their keyblades with Tidus, Wakka and Selphie around. No one was suppose to know about the Keyblade and the outside worlds.

That was the promise they made with Mickey and they intended to keep it.

Hikari and Kairi sat off on the side lines as they watch their boyfriends try to beat Ankoku. It was kind of hard since the nobody had the ability to see into the future, so she would know which move they would pull on her next.

They both laughed when she flung Sora and Riku into the sand.

"Oh yeah! That makes 8 for me and 0 for you losers!" she cheered.

Riku spit out a mouthful of sand and glared at her.

"That was dirty" he spat.

Ankoku shrugged as she stabbed her keyblades into the sand.

"I used to be in the Organization, of course I play dirty"

Sora slammed his fist into the sand.

"That's it, I quit" he said.

He went over to where the girls were and sat next to them. Hikari thought he was being a baby and decided to spar with Ankoku instead.

"I'll fight with you Ankoku" she said.

Ankoku smirked and brought her keyblades up.

"Finally, a worthy opponent"

Riku rolled his eyes and sat down next to Sora and Kairi.

Hikari summoned her keyblade and went into a fighting stance.

"You may be able to see into the future, but you'll never figure out my attacks" she said.

Ankoku snorted.

"We'll see about that"

Right off the bat, Hikari went into her Wisdom Form and glided around the beach. With her keyblade hovering beside her, she shot off various spells and watched as Ankoku deflected them.

"You think a little fashion show is going to stop me?" she taunted.

"Of course not" Hikari said.

"This will!"

She transformed into her Master Mode and slammed her keyblades against Ankoku's. When the nobody went to swing at her, she stepped back and went into her Valor Mode and performed rapid attacks. Then she went back into her Wisdom Form and shot off various spells before repeating the pattern of attacks.

"Hikari's gotten pretty good using magic" Sora said.

Riku nodded.

"Taiyouko's been training her to become a better Sorceress" he said.

"She said she needs to know how to control her powers if she wants to protect herself later down the road"

Kairi looked at him.

"Do you that something bad is going to happen if she's talking like that?" she asked.

"I thought everything was fine now since you guys defeated the Organization"

Riku shook his head as he watched Hikari and Ankoku battle.

"You never know what the future will hold" he said.

"That's what Taiyouko always said to me"

Sora and Kairi looked at him in silence. They never knew Riku could speak so seriously like this.

They slowly went back to the match.

Ankoku flipped out of the way and flung one of her keyblades at Hikari. Hikari just side stepped out of the way and show another spell at her.

Ankoku grinned and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"You know, despite being your nobody, you're not that bad" she said.

Hikari just smiled and continued fighting. She needed to be at her best like the others.

"I think it's time we take this up a notch" she said.

She stepped back and transformed into her strongest mode yet: Final Mode.

Riku blushed at her outfit when she transformed. It didn't matter how many times he's seen it, he would still blush over it.

Hikari crossed her arms as she floated off the ground.

"Let's see if you can predict my moves in this mode" she said.

Ankoku laughed and went back into her fighting stance.

"Oh yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Hikari flew at her and had her keyblades attack Ankoku. The last time that she fought like this, she was fighting for her life with Saix. She needed to master this mode in case she needed it for something else. She hoped that something such as that would never happen, but she could never be too sure.

Ankoku flung her black keyblade at Hikari and watched as Hikari's Oblivion one knocked it away on its own.

"You're no match for me" Hikari said.

She summoned Oblivion back to her and flew at her nobody.

"Now let me show you how a real keyblade wielder fights"

But before she could do anything, her head started hurting and everything became blurry. One minute she saw Ankoku and then the next she saw darkness.

/

"_Uh, Laguna. Are you sure this is the right way?"_

_Deep within a vast forest, three soldiers were running through the thick trees. The leader, known as Laguna laughed nervously. Even though he was the leader, he sure didn't look like it. His calm, cheerful smile was a dead giveaway along with his very bright green eyes. _

_He brushed off his shoulder length black hair out of his face when they came to a stop._

_His friends didn't look amused at all. A huge muscular man with a scar running down the side of his face held the bridge of his nose. The other, was an African American, shook his head in disgust. _

_Laguna just laughed again and continued forward._

"_Hoo-boy, not again…" the giant man groaned._

"_He's got us running in circles again" his companion muttered._

_They followed after their leader, so he wouldn't get hurt._

_/_

_Laguna gripped the machine gun tightly within his hands. He always hated patrol missions. Even though he was in the army, he still had to go around and kill off local monsters. Being a soldier wasn't all about the glamorous life. _

_A rustling in the bushes caused Laguna to stop in his tracks. He hadn't seen any monsters during his patrol, so he was a little on the edge. _

_He didn't know if it would be a big monster or a tiny, puny one._

_Just as he was weighing his options, a squirrel jumped out and ran up a tree. _

_Laguna sighed with relief._

"_Phew. For a second there, I thought I had to fight"_

_He spoke too soon because a behemoth of a monster jumped out and barred its teeth at him. Laguna yelped, but kept his composure. He unlocked the safety to his gun and called for his friends._

"_Kiros! Ward!"_

_They ran out and drew their weapons. _

"_You always seem to find trouble, don't you Laguna?" Kiros joked._

_Laguna laughed._

"_What can I say? I guess I'm just lucky"_

"_More like unlucky" Ward corrected._

_Laguna smiled but didn't say anything. Joking around would come later when the monster was gone._

_The monster's tough hide was hard enough for Laguna to shoot at and nearly impossible for Kiros' blades to penetrate. Luckily, Ward was an expert at these kind of things and used his harpoon to break through the thick hide. Kiros jumped in at this point and hacked away at the beast with his mighty blades, rendering it useless. And last, but not least, Laguna finished it off by throwing a grenade at it, then using a grappling hook, swung in the air and fried off his machine gun. _

_The monster fell over lifelessly, never to cause trouble again._

_Laguna jumped up and down at the prospect of winning while Kiros and Ward celebrated quietly._

"_Alright! Let's move out!" Laguna said._

_Kiros and Ward sighed as they followed him towards their jeep._

"_Hey, aren't we here to fight a war?" Ward suddenly asked._

"_You know, against the Sorceress Army?"_

_Kiros nodded._

"_Yeah, so why are we wasting our time messin' with these animals?" He asked._

_And they had a point. The three of them were part of an elite army that destroyed Sorceresses. Since they were considered abominations that lived to bring ruin, it was their job to take them out. They traveled to many worlds to ease the threat._

_Laguna rubbed the back of his neck nervously at his friends. How many times did he have to tell them that he just wasn't comfortable taking a human life? He may have been one of the best soldiers that they had, but he wasn't proud of it. Being a killer wasn't in his nature._

"_Well, you see…it's just that, um…"_

_Kiros looked at him._

"_What?"_

_Laguna laughed nervously. He didn't want to explain himself to his friends again._

"_A-anyway…let's go home!"_

_He quickly ran off towards the jeep so he wouldn't be lectured again by his friends._

"_Wait Laguna!" Ward called out._

_They all jumped into the jeep and headed back to head quarters._

_Now, if there's one thing you don't let Laguna do, it's park a car. Whenever he drove, he tended to park his car in the middle of the road instead of off to the side. _

_That is pretty much what happened when Laguna went back to headquarters._

"_H-hey! You can't park here!" Ward cried._

_It was bad enough that they were in the middle of a busy road. _

_Laguna just laughed and jumped out of the car._

"_Relax. Nothing will go wrong"_

_A bunch of cars skidded to a stop when they saw Laguna's car blocking the road._

_A bunch of soldiers stuck their head out the windows and yelled at him._

"_Damn it, Loire! Get your car out of the road!"_

"_This is the fifth time this week!"_

"_You're going to kill someone one of these days!"_

_Kiros held the bridge of his nose. It scared him that he was friends with this nut job._

"_Let's report to General Haishin before everyone decides to kill us" he said._

_They headed inside to headquarters and reported to the General's office._

_General Haishin was a man to be feared. He had fought countless battles and destroyed many sorceresses. He was a man you did not want to mess with._

_That was why the trio quickly saluted him when they saw him._

"_General Haishin! We've returned from our patrol" Laguna said._

_Haishin nodded and lit a cigar._

"_Very good, gentlemen" he said._

_He stood up from his desk and walked towards them._

"_Now then, we've just been given the order to move out to our next world" he said._

"_It appears that a sorceress has been spotted and it needs to be destroyed"_

_The three soldiers nodded._

"_Yes Sir!"_

"_Where will we be stationed to next, Sir?" Kiros asked._

_Haishin smirked over his cigar._

"_A little place that they call Radiant Garden" he said._

"_I'm told that it's a sight to see"_

_Laguna looked wistfully as he pictured the world._

"_Radiant Garden" he muttered softly._

_Haishin nodded and gave them a stern look._

"_You are to be ready by tomorrow and 16:00 hours" he ordered._

"_Dismissed"_

_The three friends saluted and left the office. Laguna was about to leave when Haishin stopped him._

_The general wore a proud grin on his face as he clapped his shoulder._

"_That was some mighty work you did out there, Loire" he said._

"_You really know what you're doing out there"_

_Laguna resisted the urge to cringe and forced a smile. He hated being praised for something he hated the most._

"_Oh, I wouldn't go that far" he said._

"_I'm just doing my job"_

_Haishin chuckled at that._

"_Then I'm safe to assume that you won't fail me on this next mission?" he asked._

"_I'm counting on you to find this sorceress"_

_Laguna bit the inside of his cheeks and nodded._

"_You can count on me" he said._

_Haishin laughed._

"_Glad to hear that, now carry on"_

_Laguna quickly left and headed for the locker room._

_He had never felt so uncomfortable by someone like he did with Haishin. How could a man take such pleasure in doing what he did? Did he enjoy fighting and killing? He sure hoped not, because people like those tended to be very scary._

_He entered the locker room to find Kiros and Ward already there. They were changing out of their uniforms and into their casual clothes. _

_He went to his locker and started taking his uniform off. He was glad that he could finally change since the armor was very uncomfortable._

_Kiros fixed his shirt and looked at his friend._

"_Hey Laguna, you wanna come to the bar with us?" he asked._

"_It'll be our last time on this world so we should make the most of it"_

_Laguna gave him a weak smile._

"_Thanks, but you know I don't drink" he said._

_Ward gave him a sly grin._

"_What about that piano chick that's always playing at the bar?" _

_Laguna's face went pink with embarrassment. When they first arrived on this world, they went to a bar to have fun. And at the bar was a really cute chick who would always play the piano. Laguna thought she was cute and was thinking about talking to her, but he found out she was already dating someone._

"_In case you forgot, she's dating that one general" he said._

_Both of his friend muttered 'oh' as they remembered._

_Laguna sighed as he slumped on the bench. _

"_I swear, I must have the worse luck when it comes to women" he said._

"_You got that right" Ward said._

_Laguna made a face but didn't comment on it._

"_I mean, what's wrong with me? I'm sweet, caring, handsome and to top it all off, a true gentleman. How is it that I don't have a girlfriend?" _

_Kiros tapped his chin in thought._

"_Maybe it's because you're clueless when it comes to talking to women, you mix up your words, you can't have a serious conversation, you always get lost"_

"_Not to mention your leg always cramps up when you try to talk to a girl" Ward added. _

_Laguna hung his head in shame. _

_It was kind of sad that s friends knew his flaws so well._

_Kiros patted Laguna on the shoulder._

"_Cheer up, man" he said._

"_I'm sure you'll find the girl of your dreams. She's probably out there waiting for you right now"_

_Laguna gave him a weak smile._

"_Thanks" he said._

"_And maybe you're right. Maybe I'll find my soul mate on this new world we're going on"_

"_That's the spirit" Ward said._

_Laguna suddenly got motivated and jumped to his feet. _

"_From this day forward, I, Laguna Loire will not give up until I find the girl of my dreams!"_

_Kiros sweat dropped._

"_Don't push it" he said._

_Laguna laughed nervously._

"_Guess I got carried away. But that's what happens when I speak from the heart"_

_Kiros and Ward laughed. _

"_Well then, let's go have a drink to celebrate your quest" Ward said._

_Laguna shrugged._

"_Oh what the heck, why not?"_

_They left the locker room and went out to enjoy their night._

/

"Is she ok?"

"Maybe if you weren't poking her, she would be"

"C'mon , Hikari. Wake up!"

"Hey, I think she's coming around"

Hikari groaned when she felt herself come around. Her head was throbbing as if someone slammed something against her skull.

She cracked her eyes open to see Riku and her friends hovering around her. All of them had worry plastered on their faces as they looked at her.

"Oh, thank goodness" Kairi said.

"You scared us!"

Riku carefully helped her up and let her lean against him. Hikari groaned and pressed a hand to her head to stop the pain.

That memory she just saw was a real doozy.

"What happened to you?" Sora asked.

"You just passed out all of a sudden. We thought something bad happened"

Hikari rubbed her eyes before looking at her friends.

"I just saw another memory of Laguna" she said.

Everyone listened closely. Maybe she found out that this Laguna was her dad.

Hikari thought back on the memory and tried to recall everything that she saw.

"He was with these two other guys…I think their names were Kiros and Ward" she said.

"They were soldiers in some sort of army that hunted down Sorceresses"

She felt Riku's grip around her shoulder tighten slightly. He knew how sensitive she was about her heritage and how people frowned down upon sorceresses.

Hikari sighed.

"But it seemed like he didn't want to do it…it was like he was trying to avoid it as much as possible and took a patrol mission. Then they talked to this man named Haishin who told them that they needed to travel to a different world…my world"

Sora smiled at that.

"Then maybe he's your father after all" he said.

"If he had to travel to your world then he would had to have met your mother"

Hikari looked at the ground.

"Maybe…" she said.

"What was he like?" Kairi asked.

Hikari pondered it over for a moment. What was the best way to describe the man that she saw in her dreams?

"Silly" she said.

Everyone gave her a strange look. Hikari looked up at them and smiled a little.

"He was very silly in the dream. He got lost on his patrol and even parked his car in the middle of the road"

Everyone laughed at that.

"That sounds like you a little" Sora.

"You tend to be a little out there at times"

Hikari pouted at that.

"I do not" she said.

Ankoku just shoved Sora out of the way.

"Do you know what he looks like?" she asked.

Hikari nodded.

"He had shoulder length black hair that fell in his face sometimes…and he had green eyes…like mine"

She smiled softly at that. She always felt out of place with her bright green eyes. Everyone that she knew had blue eyes so she felt so strange being different. But when she saw Laguna's eyes it made feel like she wasn't different after all. She had someone who shared her strange colored eyes.

"I wish we could see these dreams you're having" Sora said.

"I want to know what your dad looks like"

"I don't know if he's my dad, Sora" Hikari chided.

"I could be seeing someone else that's named Laguna"

"Denial will get you nowhere" Ankoku said.

Hikari looked down from being scolded by her nobody.

Was she in denial? Nah, she couldn't be. She just saw who Laguna was and what he did for a living. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

She sure hoped so because she didn't want to get hurt again.

"Hey you guys!"

Everyone turned to see Tsukiko running towards them.

"What's wrong, Tsukiko?" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko caught her breath before she looked at her friends seriously.

"You need to come back to the main land now" she said.

"Someone is here to see you guys"

That caught their attention. Someone was here to see them?

"Who could possibly want to see us?" Hikari asked.

Tsukiko smirked as if she knew something that they didn't.

"You'll have to come back to see" she said.

She headed back for the mainland, leaving the rest of them.

"I wonder who it could be?" Sora wondered.

"We might as well go back to find out" Riku said.

They got up and followed Tsukiko back to the mainland. Whoever it was that was looking for them had to be important.

They made it back to the mainland and headed towards Hikari's house.

When they arrived at the house, they were shocked to see who it was that was standing by the front porch.

"It's about time you guys showed up. I was wondering if you were never going to come"

Sora, Riku and Hikari's eyes bugged out in complete shock.

"Your Majesty?"

Mickey smiled and jumped off the porch swing and went up to them.

"Hey everyone, it's been a while"

/

**A/N: Mickey's back! And I'm sure you know what that means: adventure time! What could Mickey want to ask them? **

**I hope you guys liked the flashback to Laguna's past. You'll be seeing a lot of those throughout the story since it's about him kind of.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	5. An Invitation

Chapter 5: An Invitation

**A/N: We're about to start another adventure! What could King Mickey want? **

**Bad news guys. It seems Fanfiction has taken down the Trail of Memories panel because it doesn't follow 'story guidelines' so for those of you wishing to have your questions answered, I'm sorry but it's a no go. If you have questions still, just PM them to me and I'll answer them for you. This really blows!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

Mickey just smiled at his friends. It had been two months since he last saw them. He was happy seeing that none of them had changed much since he was last on the islands and he liked it that way.

The others felt differently when they saw the King. Only one thought came to their mind: trouble. If the King was here, then that meant something was wrong. But what could it be? Were the heartless and nobodies acting up again? Did someone survive the Organization? Was Kingdom Hearts in danger?

Sora, Riku and Hikari ran up to their friend and bombarded him with questions.

"Your Majesty, why are you here?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Are the worlds in danger again?"

"What's going on?"

Mickey stepped back when they suddenly went crazy on him, but being the King that he was, he quickly composed himself and reassured his friends.

"Calm down, nothing's wrong" he said.

"The worlds are safe and I haven't seen any heartless or nobodies. There's no need to panic"

Hikari bit her lip.

"But your Majesty, why are you here then, if I may ask?"

Mickey smiled up at her.

"Because Leon asked me to" he said.

Hikari jumped at little at the mention of her brother. Leon asked for her? She smiled just thinking of her favorite brother in the whole world.

"You talked with my brother?" she asked.

"How is he? Is Radiant Garden still ok?"

Mickey nodded.

"Yep, it's perfectly fine" he said.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"He actually wanted me to give you this" he said.

"He said it's an invitation to a ball their having at Radiant Garden. It's the one year anniversary of when it was restored to its former glory and he wanted you and Sora to be the guest of honors"

Hikari looked at the invitation and saw that it was indeed for a ball. She chuckled as she read Leon's handwriting. She always made fun of him by saying he wrote like a girl.

Sora peered at the invitation and smiled.

"Cool, a party dedicated for us" he said.

Mickey nodded and looked at Riku and the others.

"You're all welcomed to the party as well" he said.

"Leon said he wanted to thank the ones who have kept Hikari safe while she was on her journey"

Tsukiko smirked and Ankoku crossed her arms.

"If he offers ice cream then I'll go" she said.

Kairi brightened up at the thought of going to her home world and having a party.

Riku on the other hand didn't look happy at all, in fact, he looked the exact opposite. He frowned a little and walked away from the group. Mickey frowned, wondering what had gotten into his comrade. Why would he be upset to go to a ball?

Hikari had a very strong feeling what it was. It was the place where he almost became Xehanort's puppet and nearly killed her. It was the place where his nightmares began.

She looked at Mickey and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Why don't you go inside? I'll see what's going on"

Mickey nodded, knowing she would be able to fix this.

Tsukiko ushered everyone inside while Hikari went up to her boyfriend. Riku looked off into the distance and watched the scenery before him. He jumped a little when he felt Hikari place her hand on his arm and looked at her.

The sorceress gave him a weak smile.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Riku refused to look at her as he spoke. He couldn't without breaking is strong exterior.

"I was the one who let the madness happen on your world" he said.

"I have no right to go back for a celebration. If it wasn't for me none of this would have happened"

Hikari sighed as she gave his shoulder a squeeze. They had this talk numerous times. He would always blame himself while she would tell him it wasn't her fault. She was getting a little tired of it, but she knew he had a reason to be upset. If she were in his shoes, she would still be upset.

She needed to be the good girlfriend that she was and support him when he was down.

"It wasn't your fault. I'm sure I told you that" she said.

"You weren't the one who plunged the worlds into darkness, so how could it be your fault that my world became an empty shell to what it was?"

Riku bit his bottom lip. He tended to do that when he was upset about something.

"But it was me who severed our friendship for power" he said.

"It was me who treated you all like garbage. It was me who sided with Maleficent and gave into the powers of darkness. It was me who let Ansem turn myself into a puppet and almost…almost…"

_Almost killed you._

Out of all the horrible things that he had done with Maleficent, that was the one sin he knew he could never atone for. Even though Hikari forgave him and told him he wasn't the one who nearly killed her, he knew it was still his doing. Even though he was under the control of Ansem, it was still his hands that pierced Hikari's heart with his keyblade.

It didn't matter how many times she told him it was ok, he would never forgive himself.

He shook his head.

"I can't go back there…not when I did so many horrible things" he said.

Hikari looked at him sadly and rubbed his arm.

"Riku…"

"I can't go back" Riku repeated.

"Besides…I don't think anyone would want me to go back"

Hikari gripped his hand and decided that the pity party was over.

"They know it wasn't really you who did those things, Riku" she said.

"They know what Maleficent is capable of doing. You were just another victim to her plans like I was. You have nothing to be ashamed of"

Riku looked at her sadly.

"How can you be so positive about this?" he asked.

"How can you smile, knowing all of the horrible things I've done?"

Hikari smiled and rest her head on his shoulder.

"It's because I love you" she said.

"And if you love someone, you have to be willing to see past their mistakes. Sometimes they might be bad and sometimes they'll be just silly. But if you know deep down within your heart that the person you love didn't mean it, then that's all that matters"

She gave him a silly smile.

"And who knows? Maybe I'll do something so horrible that I won't forgive myself either"

Riku smirked a little and shook his head.

"You're too innocent to do something bad"

Hikari shrugged.

"You never know. The outside world is full of crazy things"

Riku nodded .Of course he knew that. How else was Sora able to make friends with Donald and Goofy?

Speaking of which, where were they?

A huge explosion could be heard from the house followed by a familiar duck and dog flying through the front door. The skidded across the lawn before they stopped a few feet from where Hikari was.

"Donald! Goofy!" Hikari cried.

Goofy looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, Hikari. It's been a while" he said.

Hikari smiled and went to hug him. She never realized how much she missed Goofy's cheerful personality until just then.

Riku looked at them to see that their outfits were slightly burnt.

"What happened to you guys?"

Donald sat up and shook his head a little to clear his head.

"She's nuts!" he cried.

Hikari tilted her head.

"Whose nuts?" she asked.

"I didn't know it was her ice cream. I didn't see her name on it" Goofy insisted.

Riku and Hikari looked at each other in confusion. What were they talking about?

Ankoku ran out of the house with her keyblades drawn.

"There you are, you little gremlins!" she cried.

Donald and Goofy screamed before they ran away. Ankoku growled and chases after them.

"Get back here!" she screamed.

"How dare you eat my secret ice cream stash?"

The three of them ran around the house before they hit the streets of the island.

Riku and Hikari watched in stunned silence before they started laughing.

"I told her she should have hidden it somewhere else besides the back of the freezer" Hikari said.

She wiped a tear from her eye and looked up at Riku.

"You're probably going to miss this kind of stuff if you stay here" she said.

"Now do you want to come?"

Riku looked at her for a moment and sighed. He didn't want to go, but he would do it for her.

"Fine" he said.

Hikari cheered and tackled Riku into a hug.

"Oh, I can't wait! You have to come meet my older brother, Leon. He's so sweet and loving. He's the best brother that you could ever ask for! I'm sure he'll just love you!"

Riku laughed a little but it was strained.

"_Why do I have the feeling that last part isn't true?"_

/

_The next day_

Sora was bouncing in his seat with excitement. Everyone was finally back on the gummi ship that would take them to Radiant Garden. It almost seemed like it was the old days riding in this familiar ship.

The only difference was that they weren't saving worlds.

Kairi practically had her face pressed to the window as she looked outside. She never traveled before so this was very big to her. Riku and Tsukiko were pretty much the same, but they contained their excitement.

"Are you sure it was ok to just leave without telling Taiyouko?" Riku asked.

"What if she comes back while we're gone?"

Tsukiko waved him off.

"She'll be fine. I wrote her a note explaining where we'll be" she said.

"Besides, I have a feeling she's already there. Of all the places she could go to, she would probably go to her home world"

Riku sighed and leaned back in his seat. After traveling with Taiyouko for a year he became a worry wart around her. He knew she could be careless sometimes and tended to get into trouble. He just hoped that she was alright by herself.

Hikari smiled brightly as she sat in her old seat of the ship. Even after being away from it for two months it still felt like nothing happened.

She swiveled in her seat and looked at Ankoku. The young nobody had a look of wonder on her face as she looked out the window. Yet it was laced with a bit of sadness in it.

Hikari frowned and went over to Ankoku's seat.

"What's wrong? You look sad" she said.

Ankoku looked at her for a moment before looking back out the window.

"I dunno" she said.

"I guess I'm just sad because I never realized there were many ways of traveling"

Hikari tilted her head.

"Why would that make you sad?" she asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

"Maybe it's because I used to be in the Organization" she said.

"The only way we traveled by is through the corridors of darkness. We didn't take side trips to see where we were going. It was always get from point A to point B. I guess…I'm just sad because I never realized how little I know about the outside world. I feel stupid"

Hikari smiled softly and patted her shoulder.

"Don't be sad" she said.

"You're not in the Organization anymore. This is the perfect chance for you to start a new adventure for yourself. You don't have anyone telling you what to do anymore. You are your own boss"

Ankoku looked at her and gave her lopsided grin.

"I guess you're right" she said.

"I never thought of it that way. Thanks"

Hikari smiled.

"Of course" she said.

"Anything for my new sister"

Ankoku looked shocked and jumped a little.

"Sister?" she repeated.

Hikari nodded.

"Now that you have a heart and living with me, that pretty much makes you my sister" she said.

"We pretty much look the same so I don't see why we wouldn't be"

Ankoku looked away for a second in thought. She remembered not so long ago that she was a sister to someone else.

"_Roxas"_

She closed her eyes. Roxas returned to Sora and there was no way of changing it. But even though it pained her thinking that her nobody twin was gone, at least she was given the chance to have a twin sister.

She looked back at Hikari and smiled gently at her new twin.

"Right…we're sisters"

Hikari cheered and hugged Ankoku.

"And we have an older brother that I know you're going to love" she said.

"I can't wait for you to meet him!"

Ankoku chuckled slightly.

"I'm sure he's great if you talk so fondly of him"

The ship started to slow down as they got close to Radiant Garden.

"We're almost there, so you guys better buckle up" Goofy said.

Hikari squealed and quickly back in her seat so they could get to her home world faster. She couldn't wait to see Leon. Even though it had been two months since she last saw him, it felt like a whole year to her. She wished that her brother could travel so they could see each other more often, but she knew that he had his duty to restore Radiant Garden to what it once was.

When the ship landed, Hikari practically jumped out of her seat and went down the ramp.

"Hey! Easy over there!" Donald cried.

"We're not landed all the way"

Hikari didn't listen and ran off the ramp as soon as it was down.

She took in deep breath as she looked around at her old home. Nothing seemed to change since she was last her. Aside from the decorations that were all over the market place, it still looked the same as it was the last time she was here.

"I guess a lot has changed since I've been here" Riku mumbled.

Hikari looked up at him and smiled.

"Of course it has, silly" she said.

"I wonder where everyone is?" Sora asked.

"Maybe they're at Merlin's" Donald said.

Hikari figured that was where everyone would be. Merlin's home acted like a base for them and the restoration committee.

"We'll start there then" she said.

She grabbed Riku's hand and tugged him along the streets.

"We might as well follow them" Ankoku said.

"Because I sure as hell don't know where we are"

Tsukiko rolled her eyes and looked at Sora.

"You might as well lead the way before she snaps"

Sora acted as the little guide and showed everyone around the market area.

"_I fought heartless and saved the worlds…now I'm doing tour guides"_

/

Hikari practically dragged Riku all over the place. She was initially going to head to Merlin's, but then she decided to show Riku the whole town now that it was fully restored.

"Oh! And this is the market place mom would always take my brother and I. They have the best sea salt ice cream. And over there is Ms. Moogle's bakery . She makes the best moogle cakes"

Riku just laughed a little at the sight of Hikari being hyper.

"Easy there, we're in no rush" he said.

Hikari blushed a little but still smiled.

"I know, but I want to show you everything that I remember of this place" she said.

She tugged him along and pointed various places.

"This is where my mom always got flowers. She loved lilies a lot. Especially the white, yellow and orange ones. And over there was the park I used to play with my brother and Uncle Ienzo. Mikomi would always beat Ni-san to a pulp and had to have Cloud break up the fights. Oh!"

She stopped when she spotted the one place she remembered always coming to at a child.

The fountain.

Unlike small fountains you would see in parks, this fountain went up in layers and a waterfall coming down the sides. The water always seemed to sparkle in the sunlight as the rays reflected off of the glass tiles.

"The fountain" she breathed.

She let of Riku's hand and slowly approached it. She dipped her hand into the water and watched the droplets sparkle as they fell from her hand.

"This was my mother's favorite place to come to each day" she said.

"Whenever she got tired of reading in the library, she would always come here and relax. My brother and I would always play with the water and try to see who could splash the other more. It was such a perfect, quiet little place. It was very special to my mom"

A tear slid down her face.

"I can't believe Ni-san fixed this so perfectly" she said.

Riku came up from behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I guess it was just as important to him as it was to your mom" he said.

"He must have wanted to cherish her memories"

Hikari smiled softly.

"That's why I love my Ni-san so much" she said.

She looked at Riku and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go see if everyone is at Merlin's house. You're going to love everyone!"

She tugged him around again and dragged him to where Merlin lived.

"I should warn you, Mikomi and Yuffie can be a little crazy sometimes, but they're harmless" she said.

They saw that Sora and the others were waiting for them outside.

"There you are, we were wondering where you love birds went" Sora teased.

"Did you two have a nice stroll?" Kairi joked.

Hikari and Riku went red with embarrassment.

"Knock it off!" Hikari cried.

Everyone just laughed.

"Aww, you know we're just teasing you, Hikari" Goofy said.

Hikari just grumbled and went up to the door.

"Jerks"

She knocked on the door, hoping everyone was inside.

"Ni-san! Are you there?"

The door opened to reveal Yuffie. The ninja looked happy when she saw everyone.

"Hey! You guys made it!" she cheered.

She threw the door opened and ushered everyone inside.

"We were just going over last minute preparations for the ball" she explained.

"But since you're all here, we can get everything done faster!"

Sora introduced the gang to the members of the Restoration committee and vise versa.

Ankoku looked at Mikomi and Yuffie for a moment before she cracked a grin.

"I think we're going to get alone rather nicely" she said.

Hikari looked around the room for Leon and found him hanging near Cid's computer.

She squealed and launched herself at her favorite brother of all times.

"NI-SAN!"

Leon yelped when he felt himself get thrown to the ground and was pinned down by his sister. Hikari laughed as she cuddled up with Leon and buried her face into his jacket.

"I missed you so much!" she cried.

"There's so much I have to tell you! I defeated Xemnas and saved the worlds from darkness! I met up with mom again! I was able to return to the islands and-"

Leon covered her mouth with his hand.

"Easy there" he said.

"You'll talk your lips off if you keep talking at that pace"

He removed his hand and ruffled her hair.

"It's great to see you again, Hikari"

Hikari beamed and threw her arms around his neck.

"I missed you so much, Ni-san. I felt really homesick on the islands without you"

Leon just patted her head and helped her sat up.

"Well, you're here now, so that should mean something" he said.

Hikari smiled and nodded like an idiot. She knew she looked silly in front of everyone right now, but she was so happy to see her big brother again.

She got off of Leon and fixed her outfit. Leon let out a noise of disgust when he saw she was still wearing the same outfit as last time.

"You're still wearing that?" he asked.

Hikari pouted and placed her hands on her hips.

"What? I look cute in this outfit" she said.

Leon groaned and held the bridge of his nose.

"I need to burn that when I have the chance" he muttered.

Sora laughed at the scene and decided to introduce everyone to the committee.

"I'm sure you guys know Donald, Goofy and King Mickey. But over here we have Kairi, Ankoku and Tsukiko"

Hikari grabbed Ankoku's hand and brought her over to Leon.

"Ni-san, I'd like you to meet the newest member of our family" she said.

She explained to him about how Ankoku and Tsukiko were really the nobodies of their mother and herself and that they had hearts and were living with them on the islands.

Leon didn't say anything through the explanation and let Hikari talk. When she was finished he looked at Ankoku for a moment then sighed.

"Looks like I have another sister" he said.

Ankoku cracked a smirk, happy that Leon accepted her.

"Don't get too mushy on me, scar face" she joked.

"I'll be your worst nightmare"

Leon snorted.

"I'd love to see that" he said.

"Although…you look very familiar somehow"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh. I'm your sister's nobody" she said.

Leon shook his head.

"No, it's not that. You look like someone else I know" he said.

"You almost look like…"

He stopped for a moment and shook his head.

"Nah, it can't be" he muttered.

Hikari tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it, Ni-san?" she asked.

Leon shook his head.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it" he said.

Hikari nodded but knew he was lying. She knew better than to press her brother for answers.

She looked at Riku and ushered him over.

"Ni-san, this is Riku" she said.

"Riku, this is my brother, Leon"

Riku stuck out his hand for Leon to shake.

"Hikari has told me all about you" he said.

Leon looked at his hand and shook it.

"I hope nothing bad" he said.

Hikari smiled at the two of them. She was so happy that they were getting along instantly.

Nothing could ruin this moment…that is until Sora opened his big fat mouth.

"Yeah and he's Hikari's boyfriend!"

The air within the room suddenly grew cold. Leon seemed to send off chilling vibes as he held Riku's hand in a vice like grip. Cold dread spread throughout everyone as they saw the creepy look flash across Leon's eyes.

"Boy…friend?"

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, Sora said the 'B' word in front of Leon! Poor Riku is going to die now by the hands of Hikari's older brother.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	6. Scary Nisan

Chapter 6: Scary Ni-san

**A/N: Ha ha, everyone is afraid for Riku's life. Don't worry, Leon won't kill him…yet. Although that would be funny to see now that I think about it. Got to love the over protective brother! **

**Also as a heads up, this chapter might be a little shorter than usual. Mainly because I'm going to be very busy next week and won't be able to update. And since I won't be able to update I thought I would at least give you guys a chapter even if it's short. I hope you don't mind. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"_Boy…friend?"_

Hikari gulped and nodded uneasily. Why did her brother suddenly have a scary vibe coming off of him? It was no big deal that she had a boyfriend, right?

"Y-yeah…Riku is my boyfriend" she said.

Leon looked between his sister and Riku, trying to piece everything that he just heard together. It seemed his mind had shut down when he heard the word 'Hikari' and 'boyfriend' being used in the same sentence.

This couldn't be true right? His sweet, precious, innocent little sister couldn't have been swayed by the evil world of dating, right?

This had to be a joke. Hikari was trying to mess with him since they hadn't seen each other in two months and she just wanted to scare him. Well it seemed to work because he almost fell for it (even though it was true).

His shoulders shook as he tried to suppress a laugh but couldn't help himself and laughed out loud. Everyone jumped back when they heard Leon laugh for no apparent reason and started to get scared.

Leon never laughed.

"Y-you're laughing" Sora said nervously.

"I don't think any of us have ever seen you laugh" Mikomi said.

"It's very scary to see"

Leon wiped a tear from his eye and shook his head.

"Oh, that was a good one, Hikari" he said.

"You really had me going there. That was a good joke"

Hikari tilted her head in confusion. He thought she was kidding when she said she was dating?

"What?"

Leon just shook his head.

"You know better than to scare me like that" he said.

"That was a mean joke"

Hikari looked at Riku who shrugged then looked back at her brother.

"But…I'm not joking" she said.

"Riku really is my boyfriend. We've been going out for two months now"

Leon laughed a little, thinking that Hikari was still going along with her joke. The smile vanished instantly when he saw how serious she looked and finally processed what she and Sora were saying.

Hikari had a boyfriend and he was standing right in front of him.

Whipping his head around, he glared murderously at Riku.

"You're dating my sister?" he growled.

Riku backed away when he felt like he was going to be killed and held his hands up defensively. It seemed Leon picked up Taiyouko's wicked temper.

"Let's not jump into anything" he said.

"Nobody needs to get hurt"

Leon cracked his knuckles in a dangerous manner.

"Oh no one will get hurt…" he agreed.

"Except you"

He went to lunge at him, only to have Sora and Cid pull him back.

"Hey, easy Leon! He's just a kid!" Cid barked.

"He's not a kid" Leon growled.

"He's the little monster who's trying to take my sister away"

The two guys tried to hold him back while Riku threw his hands up in confusion.

"What have I ever done to you?" he asked.

"You're dating my sister" Leon snapped.

"That's what you did!"

Hikari was getting upset that her brother was acting like an idiot over this. Why was it so bad that she was dating?

"Come on, Ni-san. Riku is a very sweet guy" she insisted.

Leon glared at his sister.

"That isn't a valid excuse!" he snapped.

"They always act nice in the beginning then they turn into controlling monsters that suck the life out of you and turn you in an empty of what you once were!"

Ankoku sweat dropped at that.

"That's a pretty dark thought to think about" she said.

Leon ignored the comment and continued on with his rant.

"Besides, you're not allowed to date until after you're married"

That threw everyone off. That statement didn't make sense and was very confusing.

"How do you think that works?" Goofy whispered to Donald.

Donald just shrugged, showing he had no idea.

Hikari gave her brother a dumbfounded look at his statement.

"How does that even work?" she asked.

"Did you just make that up?"

Riku sighed, realizing that this whole situation was pointless and decided to be the adult and end it.

He walked over to Leon and held his hand out to him.

"Listen, I understand why you would be so against Hikari having a boyfriend, considering her whole past with Xemnas" he said.

"But I give you my word that I swear I would never let anything happen to her. I would rather die than harm her. I understand why you wouldn't like me, but believe me, I'm a good guy. You don't have to worry about me"

Leon didn't say anything but just glared. Just because Riku said some fancy words didn't mean he was going to be swayed. As Hikari's brother it was his job to keep her away from all the guys that were interested in her.

And Riku was at the top of his list.

"Ni-san"

Leon looked at his sister to see she wore a sad look on her face.

"Can you just give Riku a chance? For me at least?" she pleaded.

Leon looked at Riku and growled.

"No" he said.

Hikari grew angry and crossed her arms. If her brother was going to be a jerk, she was going to hit it where it hurt.

"Fine. If you're not going to get along with Riku then I'll forget about the party, got back to the islands and you'll never see me ever again" she said.

"Now what do you say?"

Leon looked at her shocked.

"You wouldn't" he threatened.

Hikari glared at him.

"Try me" she challenged.

Leon looked between Hikari and Riku for a minute before hanging his head in defeat.

"Fine" he growled.

He glared at Riku.

"But don't expect me to enjoy your stay" he said.

Riku gave him a dull glare.

"I would be surprised if you did" he said.

Cid and Sora let Leon go and watched as the gunblade wielder walked over to Riku.

Riku gave him a harsh stare, showing that whatever Leon was going to pull, it wouldn't work on him.

He may be Hikari's older brother, but that didn't mean he was going to bend to his will.

Leon scowled and held his hand out.

"As long as you don't cause any problems here, then I won't harm you" he said.

Riku accepted his hand and shook it.

"Fine" he said.

Hikari smiled a little, relieved that her brother was using his head finally. Why Leon had to act crazy around boys was beyond her.

Since Leon had his back to Hikari, she never saw the murderous look he was secretly giving to Riku.

"_You touch her in any way and I'll kill you" _he mouthed.

Riku gave him an arrogant smirk in return.

"_I'd love to see you try" _he replied.

The two of them glared at each other to the point that they almost had electricity coming out of them.

It seemed that Riku made a rival out of Leon and it wasn't going to be pretty.

This visit was going to be a very long, stressful stay.

/

**A/N: I have to admit, I enjoyed seeing Leon go crazy on Riku. Although I feel like he was very out of character. But hey, if you were an older brother and found out your sister was dating, you would go crazy too, right? And Leon's laugh is something that no one should hear.**

**Looks like Riku has a new rival and he's not going to win against him. I look forward towards the future battering these two will give each other.**

**Again, I'm sorry for the short chapter but I'll make it up to you when my busy week is over.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	7. Reason for being stubborn

Chapter 7: Reason for being stubborn

**A/N: It looks like Leon and Riku aren't going to be on good terms. I know Leon's being a jerk but he has his reasons and they'll be explained in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy seeing the softer side to the stoic gunblade master.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The last two days were anything but fun for Hikari. After Leon exploded over the fact that she was dating Riku, he made sure to keep her busy and away from him. He made Riku help Cid out with a few things in town while he made sure his sister was by him at all times.

Hikari didn't mind the fact that she was spending time with her brother; it was just the fact that he was intentionally making it so that she couldn't spend time with Riku. The whole reason why she came here was so she could have a nice little vacation with the two men that meant everything to her.

If the two of them were going to act like they wanted to take each other's heads off then she was not going to enjoy her little visit with her brother.

/

"I swear he's doing this on purpose" Riku said.

Sora looked at his best friend with confusion as he stacked up a box of food that was going to be used for the party.

"Who is?" he asked.

Riku gave Sora an annoyed look.

"Leon" he said.

"He's been making me do these hard tasks so that I can stay away from Hikari. And I bet he even made sure I did the hard stuff in hopes that I get myself hurt or something"

Sora just snorted at his friend's logic.

"Don't be silly, Riku" he said.

"Leon isn't like that. I bet he just wanted you to do the hard stuff since he knows you're stronger than everyone in our group. He doesn't want to hurt you"

Riku rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how Sora could be so naïve.

"You didn't see the look in his eyes when you mention that I was Hikari's boyfriend" he said.

"He looked like he was ready to snap my neck"

"No he wasn't. Yeah, he probably went crazy for a second, but I doubt he wanted to kill you. He's not that insane" Sora explained.

"Oh, I'm perfectly sure he's insane" Riku said dully.

Sora sighed and sat on the crate of food to take a break. He could understand why Riku was upset with how Leon treated him, but he didn't blame the gunblade master. After everything that happened to him and Hikari, he had a reason to freak out.

"Just try to ease up on him" he said.

"He may have a huge chip on his shoulder, but he has his reasons"

Riku gave him a dark glare.

"Oh, now you're on his side?" he asked.

Sora shook his head quickly.

"No, I'm not on anyone's side" he insisted.

"I'm just saying Leon has his reasons to be a jerk. He had to deal with Xemnas after all"

Riku's glare vanished right away when he heard that. Just hearing that Nobody's name sent shivers down his spine. Even though the leader of Organization Xlll was long gone, his memory was still fresh. Hikari told him everything about what her life was like having him pretend to be her father. The constant fear of not knowing what he was thinking or how he felt about Hikari and Taiyouko would make even someone like him feel afraid.

He remembered asking Hikari about what her brother did about all of this, but she would just give him a weak smile and say it wasn't her place to say.

Sora had a similar expression his face, wondering what kind of torture it was that Leon had to live with.

"He may be a little cold and serious at times, but he has his reasons" he said.

"He's right"

The two of them turned when they saw Mickey coming towards them. Even the King was helping out with the party.

Mickey had a slightly sad look on his face as he thought of Leon.

"Leon doesn't mean to be cold, but he has his reasons" he explained.

"He had to grow up very fast at a very young age. With having a mother and a sister who were sorceresses, he had to deal with negativity that everyone gave them. He was their only source of protection so he had to be an adult when he should have been a kid. Then with the whole Xemnas and Maleficent issue, he really had to be on his guard. Even though none of us knew what Xemnas was planning, he knew that he was bad news and that being near him was not good. He had to be both a brother and a dad to Hikari since they didn't have a father and Xemnas only saw them as tools for his plans"

He looked at them sadly, as if hoping they would understand what he was saying.

"I'm sure after everything that he had to go through with Xemnas, he's a little edgy when it comes to guys being near Hikari and Taiyouko. He saw them getting hurt because of Xemnas, so he doesn't want to see the same thing happening from another guy"

He gave Riku a small smile and patted his hand.

"I'm sure Leon doesn't hate you" he said.

"He just worries for Hikari's safety. Her life means more to him than his own"

Riku didn't say anything for a moment and just closed his eyes. He understood what his friend was trying to say to him, but part of him didn't agree to Leon's motives. He understood why he would be super protective of Hikari, but he had to know that she was a big girl and that she could take care of herself.

She saved the worlds and defeated Xemnas on her own perfectly. Surely he could see that?

He ran a hand through his silver hair and looked at the sky.

It seemed like if he wanted to enjoy his stay at Radiant Garden, he would have to be the mature one and work things out with Leon.

/

Hikari sighed as she followed her brother through the busy streets of the town. Today Leon asked for her help with the table settings and they had to look for decorations. She would have enjoyed spending time with her favorite older brother if it weren't for the fact that he was purposely keeping her away from Riku.

Heck, when she went to say good morning to him earlier, Leon quickly showed up and steered her away from her boyfriend. She thought it was rude that her brother was acting childish and she wanted him to stop.

"Ni-san?"

"What?"

Hikari sighed and looked at her brother seriously.

"We need to talk"

Leon looked up from the list that Mikomi made for him to look at her. He saw the serious look on her face and knew that she wouldn't do anything unless he listened to her.

He stopped walking and faced her.

"What is it?"

Hikari crossed her arms and gave him a scolding look.

"We need to talk about how you've been acting around Riku" she said.

Leon sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't want to talk about this now.

"I haven't killed him so how is there a problem?" he asked.

Hikari huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"You've been dragging me along like a dog this whole time and won't let me have a moment with Riku!" she insisted.

Leon gave her a harsh stare. She was making it seem like he was the bad guy when he felt like he wasn't.

"I haven't seen you in two months and I wanted to spend time with my little sister" he said.

"You're making it sound like that it's a bad thing"

Hikari huffed with annoyance.

"It's not bad that you want to hang out with me and I want the same thing" she insisted.

"But I just find it rude that whenever I talk with Riku, you suddenly appear out of nowhere and whisk me away to do something else or keep me away from him. It's like you don't want me to be with him at all"

Leon snorted.

"You got that right" he said.

Hikari stomped her foot at that.

"Ni-san!" she snapped.

Leon rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Hey, I'm allowed to hate people and Riku just so happens to be one of them. He's one of the top three" he said.

"But you don't even know him to want to hate him" Hikari insisted.

"Riku's a nice guy"

Leon growled.

"Yeah and grandpa said Xehanort was nice too and looked what happened to you and mom"

He quickly shut his mouth when he said that. He never meant to snap like that, but it seemed his negative emotions were getting to the best of him lately.

He looked away shamefully.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that" he said.

Hikari looked at her brother sadly. She knew he never meant to snap at her like that. But when she heard that statement she started to put the pieces together.

It seemed he was comparing Riku with Xemnas and thought that he was going to hurt her like Xemnas hurt their mom.

"Is that why you're being mean to Riku?" she asked.

"Do you think he would hurt me like Xemnas hurt mom?"

Leon didn't say anything but when Hikari saw the slight blush on his face, she knew that she caught him.

"Ni-san-"

"I don't trust guys who want to get close to you or mom" he suddenly said.

He didn't look at her when he spoke. It was rare for him to show his emotions and he didn't want to appear weak in front of his sister.

"Every time someone got close to mom, they would always hurt her badly" he said.

"She ended up having a horrible relationship with grandpa to the point she would start yelling at him whenever she saw him. Xehanort pretended to care about her when he simply used her as a pawn to fulfill his goals and get close to you. And of course your dad-"

He closed his eyes and controlled his emotions. He had seen so many things in his life. Some of which he didn't want to remember.

He opened his eyes and looked at his sister seriously.

"I spent most of my life watching our mom suffer by people who acted like they cared about her, but only ended up hurting her" he said.

"I was too young to do anything about it so focused on protecting you from suffering the same fate. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing my precious little sister suffer because people wanted to pretend to be close to you. I didn't want to see you get hurt as well"

Hikari tilted her head.

"Is that why you acted like a jerk to Riku?" she asked.

Leon nodded and looked at the sky.

"Maybe I did freak out, but when I heard that you had a boyfriend, I just felt that my fears were coming true" he said.

Hikari went up to him and gently grabbed his hand.

'"I understand why you would be scared about me having a boyfriend, but I'm serious when I say Riku is a good person" she said.

"True, he's made a couple of mistakes in the past, but he's done more than enough to atone for them. Plus, he traveled with mom while we were separated and made sure nothing bad happened to her. I'm sure if you asked Sora and King Mickey, they would be more than happy to tell you how nice Riku is"

She gave his hand a squeeze with a pleading look in her eyes.

"I've never asked anything from you where we were growing up" she said.

"But I'm asking you to please just give Riku a chance. If not for me, then for mom. He kept her safe from the Organization so at least show him some gratitude. You don't have to be friends with him, but just talk with him, try to see the person who helped me when I came to the islands and who motivated me to keep pushing forward in my travels"

Leon hissed and he closed his eyes. He hated it when his sister gave him the pleading look.

"You know I can never say no to you" he said.

Hikari smiled softly.

"I know, but I'm not forcing you to do something that you don't want to do" she said.

"I just don't want to see my brother and boyfriend arguing the whole time"

Leon groaned and held the bridge of his nose. He just had a feeling he was going to regret this.

"Fine" he sighed.

"But if he rubs me the wrong way, then it's off. I'm not going to deal with people who have no respect"

Hikari smiled, glad that he was going to finally give Riku a shot.

"Thank you, Ni-san!"

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug.

"You'll love Riku, trust me" she said.

"You won't regret this"

Leon patted her head but had a disgusted look on his face as he held her close.

"_Oh, I have a feeling that I will regret this" _he thought.

/

**A/N: Aww, I just love seeing protective Leon…even though he can be unfair at times. But hey, when you've seen a crazy man try to destroy your world just for the sake of getting Kingdom Hearts, it's understandable why he would be so against Hikari dating Riku. He saw his mom suffer and he doesn't want to see the same thing happen to Hikari.**

**Also, if you read carefully, Leon said he really hated three people. Who could those three people be? I'm sure you can guess two of them but who is the third one?**

**I look forward to seeing Riku and Leon trying to get along…key word and trying. Will it work out or will they just want to kill each other even more?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	8. Getting along? Yeah right

Chapter 8: Getting along? Yeah right

**A/N: Oh, I can't tell how much I looked forward to writing this chapter. Riku and Leon have to work with each other and it is not going to be pretty. Will they managed to get along or will they just end up trying to kill each other?**

**Oh yeah, and I noticed that I was making Sora a little naïve in this story. I didn't mean that but even though he's very smart, he has his moments. Like helping Jack make a heart for the heartless and stuff. Just little silly things, nothing more. I'll try to keep him in character as the story goes on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"Have fun, you two!" Hikari cried as she walked away.

Riku and Leon waved Hikari goodbye, wearing very forceful smiles upon their faces. Hikari came up with this 'brilliant' idea that they should work together in order to get along with each other.

While it sounded like a good idea to her, it was the worst idea for them. Riku thought Hikari was trying to get him killed while Leon thought she was punishing him for being protective. They didn't want to do this, but they would if it made Hikari happy.

When the sorceress was out of sight, Leon rounded on Riku.

"Ok, here's what's going go down, kid" he said.

"You do as I say and don't give me any lip about it and in return I won't maim you. Deal?"

Riku sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He had decided that he would act mature and be the adult in this situation. He wanted to impress not only Hikari, but Taiyouko as well. Leon was her son, so that meant he was important to her as well. He would just have to suck it up if he was going to win Leon over…or at least try.

"I'm not going to agree to your terms but I won't argue with you" he said.

"How does that sound?"

Leon just growled. This was going to be a long day.

"_Remember, you promised Hikari that you would be nice to him…" _he thought.

"_Or at least try to"_

"Fine. We're wasting enough time as it is so let's move it"

He spun on his heel and stomped away while Riku just stuck his hands in his pockets and slowly followed.

This was going to be a very, very long day.

/

"Hey guys, how much do you want to bet that Leon will kill Riku?" Ankoku said.

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at her as if she was crazy. The nobody sorceress had a creepy smile on her face as she thought of the possibility that Riku might actually die while they were here. It was like a dream come true to her really. She didn't like it that Riku was always near Hikari. Hikari was her other half so she should be near her more, not Riku.

"Why would you want to bet on something like that?" Goofy asked.

Ankoku laughed darkly.

"Because the two of them have been paired up today to help out with the last minute party details" she said.

"And I just have a feeling that scar face is going to murder pretty boy while Hikari isn't around. Doesn't that sound funny?"

Sora crossed his arms and gave Ankoku a scolding look. He really didn't like that she wanted his best friend to die.

"That really isn't something nice to talk about" he said.

"Riku's my best friend. I don't want him to get killed"

Ankoku rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Ok, fine; then maimed really badly?"

"Why do you hate Riku so much?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, he's never been mean to you" Goofy added.

Ankoku scoffed, looking away.

"It's because he keeps Hikari away from me" she said.

"Hikari is my sister so I want to spend more time with her. She's the reason I still exist even when I shouldn't be"

"But, Ankoku, Hikari isn't just your sister" Sora said.

"She's Riku's girlfriend too. She went through a lot of trouble trying to find him again and she just wants to enjoy that fact that he's here. You'll be able to spend time with her, but she should be with Riku too"

Ankoku pouted. She thought they would be on her side for some reason.

"Well I don't like it" she said.

"Whoever said you had to like it?" Donald asked.

Goofy smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I bet Leon doesn't like this either, but he's going along with it because it makes Hikari happy. Don't you want her to be happy?"

Ankoku groaned.

"I do, but not with Riku"

Sora sighed and shook his head.

"Riku's a great guy, trust me" he said.

He rubbed his head nervously.

"I mean…yeah he's done a few bad things in the past, but he's made up for them greatly! He'll treat Hikari the way that she deserves. You can trust him"

Ankoku looked off to the side.

"I sure hope so" she muttered.

Goofy rubbed his chin in thought. He didn't know if this was a good idea or not, but he figured it would cheer Ankoku up.

"Instead of betting that they'll kill each other, why not just watch them bicker?" he offered.

"I'm sure there's no harm in that"

Ankoku had a dark smirk appear on her face.

"Now I see why Hikari talks so fondly of you" she said.

She snickered a bit before running off to find Riku and Leon. Sora looked at Donald and Goofy for a moment.

"Should we follow her just in case?" he asked.

Donald just wore a knowing look.

"You just want to see if Leon will actually kill Riku" he said.

Sora laughed nervously and rubbed his neck.

"What? As if" he said.

"There's no way that Leon would kill Riku. I mean…sure he can have a nasty temper at times…not to mention the fact that he's in charge of the restoration committee…or that he has a very dangerous looking gunblade…that he keeps on him at all times"

He gulped as he thought that there was a very good chance that Leon could kill Riku.

"Yeah, let's go follow her" he said.

"I'm sure nothing bad is going to happen"

He slowly started to walk away from them. When he got to a foot away, he broke out running and quickly followed after Ankoku.

Goofy looked at Donald.

"Should we follow him?" he asked.

Donald shrugged.

"Sora's not stupid enough to do something crazy" he said.

"Although it would be fun to see what Leon and Riku are doing at the moment"

They quickly followed after Sora, hoping that they would get a good show out of the gunblade wielder.

/

**Scrape scrape**

Leon sat on a ledge as he sharpened his gunblade. They decided to take a break (or rather Leon did) from this busy schedule. Leon pretty much made Riku do everything while he sat around and watched him. He wanted to tired the boy out and see how far he could push him. He was hoping that Riku would call it quits halfway through but he was still chugging along like it was nothing.

"_Stupid island boy" _he thought.

Since working him like a dog wasn't working, he thought scaring him was the second best choice. And what better way to scare a potential boyfriend than sharpening a very dangerous weapon?

Riku rolled his eyes when he heard Leon sharpening his blade and placed another crate down. He had caught on to his little tactic and knew it wouldn't work.

"_I've seen scarier things in Taiyouko's cooking" _he thought.

He shivered at the thought of her 'famous' bellyful stew.

"_You are not supposed to dump everything from your fridge into one giant pot" _he thought.

He had thrown up for the next two days after he ate her cooking.

Bottom line, he was more scared of Taiyouko than he was of Leon.

Leon scowled when he saw that his plan B had no effect on the boy.

"_That's right, he wields a keyblade like Hikari and Sora. This won't bother him at all"_

He held the bridge of his nose as he thought of what to do next. Pushing him was no good, scaring him was an epic fail. Maybe pressuring him would do the trick?

"_Of course. Guys hate it when you ask them too many questions" _

Looks like Plan C was a go.

"So…Riku" he said.

"Just how long have you known my sister?"

Riku looked up at the sky in annoyance. Was he really pulling that skit now?

"_That's got to be the most pathetic interrogation question that I've ever heard" _he thought.

"_And yet in some sort of bizarre twisted kind of way…I admire that"_

Turning away from his work, he faced the gunblade master with mild annoyance.

"Since she as four, going on to five" he said.

"I think it was around the time your world was taken over by the heartless"

Leon bit his lip at the horrid memory.

"_The time that Hikari was taken from me"_

He would never forget the horror he felt when Hikari was swallowed up by the darkness, never to be seen again. That was his greatest mistake he could have ever made as a brother. He vowed to protect Hikari and yet he let the darkness take her away.

Riku stuck his hands into his pockets and looked at the sky.

"She had not recollection of who she was or where she came from" he said.

"The only thing she could remember was her name and her lucky pendant that was around her neck"

He didn't know why he was telling Hikari's past to him, but he reminded himself that Leon was her brother and he was supposed to be on better terms with him.

"Life was a little hard on her in the beginning, not to mention scary" he said.

"I mean, I would be scared too if I woke up not knowing who I was or where I came from. Sora, Kairi and I tried our best to help her remember and made her feel welcomed on the islands. It was easy being friends with her, but for everyone else…not too much"

Leon narrowed his eyes.

"How so?" he asked.

Riku sighed and gave him a knowing look.

"Let's just say that she…stood out a little" he said.

Leon didn't need to think hard on that. Even on a different world, Hikari was still considered a freak.

"Everyone on the island has blue eyes" Riku explained.

"It's been said our eye colors is our connection to the sea. But Hikari had green eyes, a color that you don't normally see on the islands. Some people were curious, some were a little freaked out…but I never saw anything wrong with them"

Leon looked at him when he said that. The young keyblade wielder has a gentle smile spread across his face.

"I always knew Hikari was different, but not in a bad way" he said.

"She somehow managed to wrap her way around my heart and never let me go. She still clung to me even though I did horrible things. People like her are so hard to come by"

His smile faltered as he gave Leon a serious stare.

"I never mattered to me that Hikari was a sorceress or that she has the power to see into the past" he said.

"It doesn't bother me that she can use magic or that she can wield a keyblade. Hikari is just Hikari. I wouldn't have her any other way than her just being herself"

Leon watched as Riku gave him a silent glare as if taunting him to say a remark. The message was clear. It didn't matter to Riku who or what Hikari's heritage was. All the mattered was that he loved her and he was never going to let her go.

"_You can hate me until your dying days. You can strike me down and I'll always get up. You can take her to the ends of the world and I'll still follow. It doesn't matter what you do to me. All that matters is that I'll never let her go" _Riku silently vowed.

Leon looked at him for a moment before closing his eyes.

"Just acts like he was with mom" he mumbled.

How was it that everyone he met suddenly reminded of _that guy?_

He stood up from his spot and put his gunblade away.

"We have work to do, let's get moving" he said.

Riku raised an eyebrow at Leon's sudden change of attitude. He quickly followed him and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"What's with the sudden mood change?" he asked.

"Have you finally started to accept me?"

Leon snorted.

"Ha ha-_no"_

Riku rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, after my little speech, surely something must have changed in you"

"The only thing that's changed about me is how much I want to kill you more" Leon replied.

Riku just sweat dropped and brushed the bangs out of his face.

"You mean you haven't lightened even one bit after all of that? You must be made out of ice or something"

Leon gave him a harsh stare.

"Do you want to see how hard I can punch you in the face?" he asked.

Riku held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, I'm not trying to start a fight" he said.

"Then keep your mouth shut" Leon replied.

Riku groaned and shook his head.

"_Getting him to accept me is going to be a lot harder than I thought"_

/

"Aw, damn!" Ankoku slammed her fist down.

"And I thought he was going to punch him too!"

The four of them managed to find Riku and Leon and hid up on the roofs so they wouldn't be spotted. Ankoku was hoping that Leon would kill Riku while Sora prayed that nothing bad would happen. Riku and Leon were his friends so he didn't want any bad blood between them.

"I thought it was a good thing that Leon didn't hurt him?" Goofy asked.

Donald laughed.

"Looks like you lost the bet" he said.

Ankoku glared at the duck.

"Oh no, feather boy. We never bet on anything" she said.

"You guys never agreed to the bet in the first place"

Donald glared at her.

"Fine, we'll bet now" he said.

Ankoku crossed her arms.

"Fine! I say the next time the two of them have to team up again, Leon will beat Riku up" she said.

"And I bet it will be Riku who does the beating" Donald declared.

Goofy gulped nervously.

"And I-um-bet that they won't?" he said nervously.

Sora shook his head. He couldn't believe that Donald and Goofy were agreeing to this (well Donald was).

"Keep me out of this" he said.

"I don't want to see my friends fight"

Ankoku shrugged.

"You're loss" she said.

Sora sighed and watched Riku and Leon's retreating forms.

They wouldn't try to kill each other…right?

/

**A/N: Oh, Sora, Sora. You're too innocent to understand the workings of the protective boyfriend. Of course Leon is going to try to kill Riku, but it won't be for while since that would ruin the story. **

**I know you were all expecting to see Leon and Riku trying to kill each other, but rest assured, the seed of destruction has been planted and it shall blossom soon enough. I want their fight scene to be dramatic! **

**Ha ha! Ankoku, Donald and Goofy are placing bets on who will kill each other first! That's going to be a fun skit to write as the story goes on.**

**And just who was 'that guy' that Leon mentioned?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	9. Angelo

Chapter 9: Angelo

**A/N: It's finally July everyone! You know what that means: Kingdom Hearts 3D will be here soon! So in honor to celebrate the game almost being here, I'm posting another chapter up. In this chapter, everyone makes a new ally in a very unlikely character. I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

While Riku and Leon were working, Hikari, Kairi and Tsukiko were on the other side of town picking up last minute items for the party. So far it was minor things like party settings and decorations. The only problem was that they couldn't decided on a color theme for it.

Hikari wanted red, Kairi wanted pink and Tsukiko wanted purple. They were all very pretty colors but they couldn't agree on one of them.

"I think pink would be a nice soft color" Kairi said.

"Well I think purple is more fitting since the party is going to be at night and it'll blend in more" Tsukiko countered.

Hikari rolled her eyes, thinking that their ideas were silly. Of course red was the perfect color for a party. Red went with everything.

"I think red is the right color for this party" she said.

"It's the color of love and it'll make the night romantic"

Kairi and Tsukiko just laughed at her, knowing that she was thinking of Riku as she said that.

Hikari pouted and placed her hands on her hips.

"Hey! I never said anything bad about your colors" she retorted.

"If you don't like red, then I'll just go with blue"

"That would be something Ankoku would like" Tsukiko.

"Why not pick a color that everyone would like?"

Hikari sighed and looked around the booths that were selling certain items in various colors. She thought they were all lovely, but she didn't know what would fit the theme of the party.

What color would fit the theme of an anniversary party?

She walked through the booths, liking some colors while disagreeing with others. They were all pretty, but they didn't scream to her.

As she passed a fabric stand, she stopped and did a double take. Resting in the middle of the table was a bolt of pale yellow fabric. It wasn't too bright yet it wasn't very pale either. It was a warm yellow that gave off a positive vibe.

Walking over to the stand, she picked up the fabric and felt the soft material. It dawned on her why this color screamed to her; it was her mother's favorite color.

Taiyouko always loved things that were yellow, orange and white. Her whole wardrobe consisted of those colors and was even the colors of her room.

She smiled softly and picked up the bolt of fabric. This was the perfect color for the party. If it wasn't for Taiyouko, so many lives would have been lost. What better way to pay homage to her than to use her favorite colors for the theme?

She showed Kairi and Tsukiko the color proudly.

"This is the color we'll be using for the party" she said.

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow while Kairi smiled. They both seemed to agree in their own way and let the sorceress buy the fabric.

"We just need to throw in a little bit of orange and white to make it fancy" she said.

"And maybe add a few flowers for the tables"

Kairi liked the idea and helped picked out the right colors to match the fabric.

Tsukiko really didn't like the yellow and white colors, but she was fond of the orange. It reminded her of Axel and his fire powers.

She frowned when she thought about her lover. It was hard to believe that it had been nearly three months since he was gone. After he gave up his life to save her, she felt so lost and empty without him. Even though they were nobodies and were unable to feel emotions, they were able to fall in love with each other.

She placed a hand over her heart, where she felt it grow warm. Before Axel disappeared, he transferred the last of his powers over to her. It was his way of saying that he was still with her, even if it wasn't physically.

She summoned up a tiny flame and let it dance across her fingers before dismissing it.

"_You may not be here, but I know you're always with me" _she thought.

She hugged the orange fabric close and followed the two girls through the market place.

"I can't wait until we have the party" Kairi said.

"When did Leon say it will be?"

"Ni-san said it's suppose to be tomorrow night" Hikari said.

"He said that was when Sora and I sealed up the keyhole to this world and freed it from the heartless"

Kairi smiled.

"Well I can't wait until I try out this new dress I bought the other day. Sora is going to be so shocked. Did you two get your dresses yet?"

Tsukiko nodded.

"I have this one dress that I got when I lived in Twilight Town" she said.

"Why waste money buying a dress when I already have one?"

Hikari laughed nervously and scratched her head.

"I haven't picked out a dress yet" she said.

"But I could always change into one of my special forms like my Wisdom form or Final Form. Those look pretty"

"I'm sure you'll think of something" Kairi said.

"And when you do, Riku won't take his eyes off of you"

Hikari blushed as she thought about Riku. She really hoped that he would dance with her at the party.

"Bark! Bark!"

Hikari heard something and looked around for the source. She could have sworn that she heard a dog barking just now.

"Bark! Bark!"

Knowing that she wasn't going crazy, she followed the sound. She didn't know there were animals in the market district and she wanted to find out why there was one.

"Where are you going, Hikari?" Kairi asked.

"I heard something up ahead" Hikari explained.

"I'm going to check it out!"

She ran off to find the mystery dog. Kairi and Tsukiko looked at each other for a moment before they ran off as well.

What was Hikari after?

/

She weaved through the side streets as she continued to hear the dog barking. She knew she was getting close since it was getting louder but she couldn't find the source.

She skidded around a corner and found the source of the barking. It was indeed a dog, but it was in the middle of a tugging match with a man holding its leash.

The dog kept growling and barking at its owner while the man yelled at the dog in return.

"Stop that barking this instance!" he snapped.

"I didn't pay all that munny just for you to growl and bark at me! If you keep this up, I'm taking you to the pound!"

The dog continued to growl and snap at him. It clearly didn't like the man and wanted to get away from him.

The man tugged at its leash but the dog wouldn't budge. In fact, it tried to back away.

"That's enough! We're going home!" he snapped.

The dog snarled and did something Hikari never thought a dog could do. The dog opened its mouth and shot fire at the man. The man backed away in fear, nearly getting hit by the flames and snarled at the animal.

"How dare you try to attack me?" he roared.

He raised his hand, ready to strike the animal. That was enough for Hikari and she quickly went to the dog's rescue.

"Hey!" she cried.

She ran up to them and stood in front of the dog, trying to protect it.

"What do you think you're doing? Are you insane?"

The man glared at her.

"Stay out of this, girl" he said.

"This is none of your business"

Hikari glared at the man dangerously.

"It's very well my business. You were about to hit this dog!"

Tsukiko and Kairi arrived and saw the scene unfolding.

"What the hell is going on?" Tsukiko asked.

Hikari looked at her friends, hoping they would back her up.

"This man was about to hit this poor little dog!" she said.

Kairi gasped in horror while Tsukiko glared at the man.

"Is that true?" she said dangerously.

The man gulped but didn't back down.

"You don't understand, this dog isn't normal" he said.

"It can use magic!"

The dog growled at the man but didn't move from behind Hikari. The sorceress patted its head in reassurance.

"So you mean to tell me that just because someone is different, you're entitled to treat them badly?" she asked.

"You disgust me"

The man gulped nervously. He was outmatched now.

"You don't understand" he said again.

"I paid a lot of money for that thing and I'm not going to have it misbehave"

Hikari growled.

"Thing?" she spat.

"You think this dog is a thing?"

Tsukiko held the bridge of her nose. Hikari was going to snap and it was not going to be pretty.

"Here we go again" she muttered.

Hikari stomped her foot and glared at the man.

"For your own information, this dog is not a _thing_" she spat.

"It's a loving, caring animal who just needs love and attention. Just because it can use magic doesn't mean you have to treat it badly. This dog is special so it should be treated like its special. If you don't have what it takes to take care of a pet then you shouldn't have bought it"

The dog poked its head out from behind Hikari as if it was hearing what she was saying. It nudged its nose against her hand, showing its gratitude.

The man groaned in frustration.

"I can't return that dog back" he said.

"I paid a lot of money for it and they said since I paid for it then I can't return it back"

Hikari glared at the man. All he cared about was his money and not about this poor animal that was hiding behind her.

Well if he wanted money, then he could have it.

Reaching into her side pouch, she pulled out a small bag that contained Munny and tossed it at him.

"You want munny? Then here, have it!" she said.

She watched as the pouch hit the man then fell on the floor.

The man looked at the pouch then back at her.

"What?" he asked dumbfounded.

Hikari huffed in annoyance.

"There's 5,000 Munny" she said.

"I'm buying the dog from you, so go away"

Tsukiko and Kairi's eyes bugged out. She was throwing away 5,000 munny for a dog? She was crazy.

The man thought so too and tried to reason with her. He took a step forward to talk to her and to get the dog as well.

"Now, listen here, ma'am. I appreciate the offer, but that dog-"

The dog lunged from behind Hikari and started barking madly at him, as if it was saying to stay away from Hikari.

The man flipped out and ran off, not even bothering to pick up the munny bag.

"That's right! And don't you ever bother this dog again!" Hikari cried.

She huffed in annoyance before she looked at the dog.

"Hey there, cutie" she cooed.

"Are you ok?"

She bent down to get a closer look at this beautiful animal and wasn't disappointed. The dog was a male full grown German Sheppard. He had the trade mark pointed ears and the black and brown coat. On his back was a white patch of fur that took the shape of a heart while his eyes were bright blue. That was a very rare eye color for this type of dog, but Hikari thought it fit him.

The dog stuck his tongue out happily as if showing he was glad that he was away from the man. Hikari laughed and scratched behind his ear.

"Oh, you're so cute!" she squealed.

"I can't believe that man was going to be mean to you. Don't worry, I promise to take good care of you"

The dog lunged forward and attacked her face by licking it constantly. Hikari laughed since it tickled and let the dog have this moment of happiness.

Kairi laughed as she saw the dog wage his tail like crazy.

"He really likes you" she said.

The dog continued to kiss his savior while Hikari scratched his ears. When the dog finished, he got off of her and sat in front of her obediently. It seemed that he was willing to listen to her and not that man.

Hikari smiled and just ran her fingers through the dog's fur. He was so adorable that she couldn't get enough of him.

"Yeah, I'm keeping this dog" she said.

Tsukiko rolled her eyes.

"It's kind of obvious that you were since you were willing to spend 5,000 munny on him"

Hikari just shrugged and played with her new pet.

"I think he's a beautiful animal" she said.

"He'll be an awesome pet"

Kairi sat next to her and played with the dog too. She was getting attached to the animal as well.

"What are you going to call him?" she asked.

Hikari thought for a moment and looked at the dog. The thing that stood out the most about him was his eyes. They were so bright that they twinkled like the stars.

She knew the perfect name for him.

"Angelo" she said.

"His name is Angelo"

Angelo barked at his new name, showing that he liked it.

Hikari laughed and hugged her new pet.

"From this day forward, you're my little Angelo" she said.

Angelo wagged his tail, showing he was happy with his new master.

/

Up on the roofs of the marketplace a mysterious figure watched the scene below. They smirked darkly when they saw the dog was magical and was attached to Hikari.

"So she found her Sorceress pet, huh? This is going to be interesting"

The figure waved their hand and had black, mangled bat wings appear on their back.

"I should report this to master" they said.

"She'll want to know that her little toy is getting stronger"

The figure flew up in the sky and headed back to where their master was.

Time was running out for Hikari and her friends.

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, looks like one of the bad guys is about to appear soon. Just who is this mysterious figure and why is Hikari getting a pet so important?**

**Speaking of pets, Hikari got a dog! Angelo is going to play a vital role in the upcoming chapter's since he's a very special dog. And he's also a reference from Final Fantasy 8. **

**I thought a German Sheppard was the perfect kind of dog for Hikari. They're so cute looking that I just want to eat them up! **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	10. Waltz of the Moon

Chapter 10: Waltz of the Moon

**A/N: Yay! We finally reached the ball chapter! I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a long time. **

**Also I wanted to clear a few things up. I got a few reviews saying about a few things that are related to Final Fantasy 8 such as with the whole Angelo thing. Just to clear things up, I know everything there is about that game and have studied it a lot for the sake of this story. I know Angelo wasn't a full German Sheppard in the game and was actually female. The fact that I made the Angelo in this story a male dog is simply because I wanted to make some characters original. All of the things you see that are referred to in Final Fantasy 8 is simply reference. If it may seem a tiny bit wrong or was the opposite in the game, that's because I intended to make it that way. It's kind of like in some of the spin off Final Fantasy games where you can name your character after one of the main characters in the main series. I hope that clears all the confusion. If not then you can always send me a PM and I will be more than happy to explain it to you. **

**Anyway, let's get on with the chapter! I'm sure you guys want to see Hikari and Riku dance, right?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"You bought a _dog_?"

Hikari laughed nervously at the look Leon was giving her. After she 'bought' Angelo she brought him back to Merlin's place so everyone could see her new pet. She even got him a cute little collar that matched her outfit.

"Aw, come on, Ni-san. I couldn't just leave Angelo with that guy" she insisted.

"He was being mean to him"

Leon held the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you actually _bought a dog!"_

"Hey, to be honest, that guy wasn't really nice" Tsukiko said.

"Plus he was going to get rid of it anyway"

"Don't call Angelo an it" Hikari insisted.

She smiled and she scratched the dog behind his ears.

"He was being such a big meanie to my wittle Angie" she cooed.

"Isn't that right, Angelo?"

Angelo licked her face and he panted happily. After the guy left he turned into happy, cheerful dog. He seemed to be just as happy as Hikari was with this whole situation.

Sora knelt in front of him and petted him.

"He does look cool" he admitted.

"I wonder why he didn't want him?"

"It's because he's a special dog" Hikari explained.

"He can do magic"

Donald rolled his eyes.

"I doubt it" he said.

Hikari huffed in annoyance. Donald was probably jealous that he wasn't the only animal who could perform magic.

"It's true" she insisted.

"Show them what you can do, Angelo"

The dog sat up straight and started barking. Every time he barked, sparks of lighting would hit the floor.

"Gosh, that's amazing" Mickey said.

Hikari smiled and hugged Angelo close.

"I know! He's going to be an amazing addition to our family"

"You're not keeping him" Leon said.

Hikari looked hurt and surprised that her brother would say that.

"But why?" she insisted.

"You won't have to take care of him, I'll do it. He's my pet after all"

"I'm not having that mangy mutt in the house" Leon said.

Angelo growled at being called a mutt. It seemed it was smarter than other dogs as well.

"Oh, come on, Ni-san" Hikari insisted.

"I've always wanted a pet; can't you just let me keep him?"

"No" Leon said.

Hikari pouted and held Angelo close.

"I don't want to give him back to that mean man" she said.

Riku saw how upset Hikari was getting and didn't like it. He didn't see what was wrong with her having a pet if she was willing to take care of it. He thought Angelo was a pretty cool dog anyway. If Hikari wouldn't be able to keep him, then he would.

"Don't be upset, Hikari" he said.

He knelt down in front of her and scratched Angelo's ear.

"If you can't keep him, then I'll take him" he said.

"And that way you can always come to my house and see him whenever you want"

Hikari smiled at the prospect of being able to go to Riku's house all the time and play with her new pet.

Leon's eye twitched at the thought of his sister hanging around the demon child's home.

"On second thought, keep the dog" he muttered.

Hikari smiled and hugged Angelo.

"Yay! I get to keep my dog!" cheered.

Angelo barked in response and licked her face. Riku smirked when he saw his plan worked.

Ankoku rolled her eyes in a bored manner.

"Great now I'll have to deal with a slobbering dog" she groaned.

Leon suppressed a headache from starting.

"Alright, enough with the dog" he said.

"Tomorrow is the big ball. You guys better have nice outfits for tomorrow or forget about even coming"

"Don't worry, we'll look our best" Sora said.

"We're the guest of honors after all"

Leon rolled his eyes.

"Just try not to screw up. We've worked really hard to make this event even happen"

"Don't worry, Ni-san. We won't" Hikari said.

"We'll make this a night that everyone will remember!"

Leon smirked a little.

"Let's hope that it will"

/

(The next night)

"Woo! We're gonna party like there's no tomorrow!" Sora cheered.

Riku rolled his eyes as he fixed his dress shirt in the mirror. Aerith and Mikomi picked all of the guys outfits for the night that consisted nice dress pants and dress shirt. Aerith had a sharp eye and picked out a color that fit Riku perfectly. He wore a pale yellow dress shirt that looked similar to his vest.

Sora's shirt was a deep maroon color with a black vest that went over it.

"I wonder what Kairi is going to wear at the dance?" Sora asked.

Riku smirked.

"You hoping that she'll dance with you?" he joked.

Sora blushed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Maybe" he said.

Riku patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax. Of course she'll dance with you" he said.

Sora smiled in relief.

The door to their room opened to reveal Mickey. He along with Donald and Goofy decided to stay in their regular outfits since it would be hard to find nice outfits in their size and because they thought the ones they had on at the moment were festive enough.

"Hey, fellas" the king said.

"You guys ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be" Riku said.

They left the room and headed for the party that was meant for all of them.

/

Everyone was having a blast at the party. People from around town came to dance and celebrate the anniversary of their world being returned to its former glory. Everyone was dancing and having a grand time.

"This is amazing!" Sora cried.

Riku couldn't agree more. He was amazed by how much this world changed in such a short time. Instead of it being the home to heartless it was the home to innocent people.

"_The power of the keyblade really does wonders" _he thought.

Tsukiko came over wearing a beautiful purple dress that was sleeveless on one side and had a slit on the other.

"Hey guys. You two look handsome" she said.

"You waiting for a couple of cute girls to dance with?"

Sora and Riku blushed at her joke. The sight caused Tsukiko to laugh.

"Aw, you guys act way too innocent for a couple of boys who saved the worlds. Man up a little. This party is dedicated for you thanks to what you did"

Riku stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe more for Sora. I don't see any reason why they would thank me"

Tsukiko gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You've atoned for what you've done in the past, believe me" she said.

"Taiyouko always talks about you and how you really worked hard with defeating the Organization. Don't let one little mistake change anything"

Riku looked at the ground. Of course Taiyouko would say something nice about him. She didn't have the heart to say anything negative about anyone.

Kairi came over wearing a cute pink cocktail dress and had her hair clipped up in a twist. Sora's jaw dropped at the sight of her and had to have Riku jab him in the side to compose himself.

"You guys look amazing!" Kairi said.

She blushed when she saw Sora.

"You look really handsome too, Sora"

Sora gulped and fixed his shirt collar so he could breathe better.

"Y-You look great too, Kairi" he said.

Kairi smiled.

"Oh! You have to see Ankoku's dress!" she said.

"She looks amazing!"

Sora and Riku looked through the crowd to find their sarcastic buddy. They figured she wouldn't be wearing a dress since she wasn't that girly. Yet when they saw her, they had to cover their mouths to prevent themselves from laughing.

Stomping over to them was none other than Ankoku…in a Lolita style dress. The nobody wore a nasty scowl on her face as she was covered from head to toe in frilly lace. Everything was in blues and blacks while her hair was curled at the end to give her a 'dolly' look. She even had a cute little blue hat to top it all off.

"W-wow, Ankoku" Sora snickered.

"Y-you look so-so"

"Blue" Riku finished.

Ankoku had murder written on her face as the two of them snickered at her outfit.

"Don't even say a word" she hissed.

Riku just couldn't help it. He thought that this was karma getting back at Ankoku for being such a jerk to him. It seemed luck was on his side after all.

Ankoku stomped her patent leather shoe in anger.

"Shut the hell up!" she growled.

"Aerith got me this stupid dress at the last minute! I don't have a choice!"

"Sure you do" Sora said.

"You're just too lazy to talk back"

Kairi thought Ankoku's dress was rather cute and couldn't help but gush over it.

"Doesn't she look cute?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, she's cute alright" Riku said.

"She looks like a crappy little Bo Peep"

Ankoku growled in anger.

"Say one more thing pretty boy"

She summoned her keyblades secretly.

"Say one more thing"

Riku just held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Hey, don't cause a scene now" he said.

"You don't want to ruin this party that everyone worked on and make Hikari upset, do you?"

Ankoku dismissed her weapons and gave him the finger.

"Screw you" she spat.

She stormed off when she saw she wasn't going to get any sympathy.

"I'll be at the snack bar!"

Tsukiko just rolled her eyes at her friend.

"I better go watch her in case she decides to 'accidentally' get food on her dress"

She left the three friends behind as they tried to catch their breath from laughing.

When the music started to pick up, Kairi's eyes lit up in excitement.

"I love this song!" she cried.

She grabbed Sora's hand and dragged him over to the dance floor.

"C'mon, Sora! You have to dance with me!"

Sora's face went beat red as he was ushered away by the girl of his dreams.

Riku smiled softly. He was glad that his two friends were finally starting to show their feelings for one another. He would have done the same with Hikari, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He leaned against the wall as he watched everyone dance. He was fine with just watching everyone. Dancing really wasn't his thing and he would just make himself look like an idiot on the dance floor anyway.

He swayed his head to the music, enjoying the scenery when his eyes caught something in the middle of the dance floor.

There, standing in the middle of the room had to be the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Hikari was dressed in a light red dress that reached her knees and wore matching shoes to go with it. Her hair was curled at the ends and bounced whenever she moved her head in the slightest and wore the brightest smile on her face.

He always thought she looked pretty in whatever she wore but right now, he was having a hard time trying to close his mouth in shock.

Hikari saw him from across the dance floor and hurried over to him. When she reached him she placed her hands on her hips.

"You're the cutest looking guy here" she joked.

"Dance with me?"

Riku smirked but shook his head.

"I don't dance" he said.

Hikari pouted a little.

"What do you mean? Of course everyone can dance" she said.

"Oh, I get it! I bet you won't dance unless someone tells you. Well guess what, I happen to be a very powerful sorceress and I bet I can make you dance with me"

She waved her hand in front of his face in a joking manner.

"You will dance with me. You will dance with me" she chanted.

She tilted her head to the side.

"Well?"

Riku just snorted.

"Sorry but you're going to have to try harder" he said.

Hikari huffed and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh come on" she said.

"I don't want to go out there by myself. And I even got this pretty dress on just for you"

Riku smirked.

"Well, since you went to such troubles then how could I possibly refuse?" he joked.

Hikari beamed and grabbed his hand.

"Hurry! The next dance is about to start!"

Riku staggered as Hikari lead him to the center of the dance floor. She quickly placed his hand on her waist while she held his other.

"Just follow my lead" she said.

The two of them started dancing with Hikari leading and Riku following. The keyblade wielder staggered as he tried to follow Hikari's movements without stepping on her feet. Hikari spun out of his arms and spun back while Riku accidentally bumped into her. He got embarrassed and started to leave but Hikari dragged him back and had him to it again. They tried dancing again but Riku got lost in the movements and bumped into a nearby couple that was dancing.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Hikari stuck her tongue out at them and gave them a nasty look.

"Why don't you go watch where you're going?" she retorted.

The couple just moved away and left them be.

Hikari smiled up at Riku.

"See? There's nothing to worry about"

Riku smiled softly and decided to try dancing one more time.

It seemed like third time was the charm because they were able to dance perfectly without any screw ups. He spun Hikari perfectly and had her spin back into his arms. The two of them blushed when they saw how close they were to each other. Riku slowly dipped his head to kiss her but they were interrupted by a batch of fireworks going off.

Everyone cheered at the sight while Riku and Hikari blushed with embarrassment.

"I told you that you could dance" Hikari said.

Riku smiled and shrugged.

"I guess I can" he said.

"Hey Hikari"

Hikari turned to see Leon standing a little ways off. The gunblade wielder wore a slight smirk as he offered out a hand.

"Care to give your brother a dance?"

Hikari looked at Leon then to Riku, not sure what to do. Riku understood her dilemma and kissed her on the forehead.

"Go ahead" he said.

Hikari gave him a grateful smile and quickly went over to Leon. Leon smiled at Hikari then secretly gave Riku a nasty look.

Riku just rolled his eyes.

"When will he grow up?"

Hikari smiled as she danced with her favorite older brother. Leon didn't show it, but he was a pretty good dancer. Spun her around and swayed with the music like he had done it for years.

"I didn't know you were such a good dancer, Ni-san"

Leon just smirked and continued swaying with the music.

"Mom always taught me how to dance when I was little" he said.

"She said that it was the perfect way to win a girl's heart"

Hikari just laughed and their mother's logic. Of course she would think of something like that.

"You look cute by the way" Leon said.

"That dress fits you"

Hikari blushed and laughed.

"Well of course it would, you were the one who picked it out for me"

When Hikari went to get ready for the ball, Aerith gave her a box saying that it was from Leon. She was surprised that her brother would pick out such a beautiful dress for her, but she figured that he was showing how much he loved her.

Leon just smirked in his usual manner.

"I saw you dancing with Riku earlier" he said.

"Didn't know he was that bad of a dancer"

Hikari huffed in annoyance.

"He may not be a good dancer, but his heart is in the right place" she said.

"And at least he tried to my sake"

Leon rolled his eyes.

"Whatever"

Hikari pouted. It seemed that her brother was still going to hate Riku despite him being nice. She wished that her brother wasn't so protective or thick headed at times.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Leon and Hikari saw Riku standing next to them and held his hand out for Hikari to take. Leon was about to say something, but Hikari quickly cut him off.

"I would love to!"

Riku lead her away and looked at Leon.

'I win' he mouthed out.

Leon glared at him and gave him the finger in response.

Riku took Hikari away from the dancing area and outside where it was quiet and less crowded. The stars looked so bright out that it was as if the worlds where joining in on their celebration.

"It's so beautiful out" Hikari breathed.

Riku smiled in response and nodded.

"Who would have thought that there were so many worlds out there?" he wondered.

Hikari nodded in response and looked up at him.

"At least we're all connected in some way, otherwise I would have never met you and we wouldn't be here right now"

Riku gave her a gentle smile and kissed her forehead.

"I couldn't agree with you more" he said.

He offered his hand to her.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this dancing" he said.

"Let me show you"

Hikari accepted his hand and placed her other hand on his shoulder. Riku pulled her close and smiled when she seemed to fit perfectly against her. The two of them slowly danced to the music that was playing the background and looked at each other. There was so much love in their eyes that they didn't know that they could feel such an emotion that strongly.

She blushed when she saw how handsome he looked and felt her leg cramp up. She stumbled a bit but Riku managed to steady her.

"And I thought I had the bad balance" Riku joked.

Hikari just blushed and laughed. It seemed whenever she was super close to Riku her leg would start the cramp up for no apparent reason.

She placed her head on her shoulder and swayed with the music. She felt so safe and secured in Riku's arms. As long as she was with him, she knew nothing would harm her. Riku placed his head on top of hers and held her close.

They stayed like this for a long time and just danced even when the song finished. They didn't want this moment to end and tried to keep it as long as they could.

Hikari looked up at Riku and raised herself up so she could kiss him. Riku slowly lowered his head to kiss her in return.

The loving couple was about to share a tender moment, but like all good things, it came to a sudden end.

The ground shook as a large explosion erupted throughout the area. They looked up to see smoke forming in the distance and the sound of evil laughter echoing throughout the air.

It seemed that danger was upon them.

/

**A/N: Aren't I cruel for ending it like that? But hey at least that means it'll be adventure time for everyone. Who is the one causing this problems though? **

**I hoped you guys like this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it and enjoyed seeing Riku and Hikari dancing. Hikari even got a leg cramp because she was so close to Riku! That's just proof that she's Laguna's kid, right?**

**And I hoped you guys liked Tsukiko and Ankoku's outfits. I'm working on their drawings right now so keep an eye out.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	11. Nightmare's child

Chapter 11: Nightmare's child

**A/N: We're finally getting to the good part of the story! Now we get to see one of the main villains that will cause a lot of problems for Hikari and the others. Will this villain be as bad as the Organization or worse? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Danger was the only thing that came to Hikari's mind as she felt the explosion. Someone was trying to attack this world once again and harm innocent people. She didn't know if the heartless and nobodies were back, but she couldn't let innocent people get caught in the crossfire.

She had to do something.

Reverting her party dress into her usual outfit, she summoned her keyblade and ran towards the danger. No one was going to trash her world while she was on it. Not by a long shot.

She heard rapid footsteps approaching her and saw Riku running along with his keyblade in hand.

"You're not going alone" he said.

Hikari smirked and continued running towards the source of the danger.

It looks like Hikari was going to save the day once again.

/

People screamed as they tried to get away from the smoke and debris. It seemed whatever caused that explosion did some serious damage to the areas around it. The whole marketplace was a mess as stalls and stores were broken down and scattered all over the place. Hikari also noticed a few claw marks etched into the stone walls as if something scratched it.

"Maybe we should have told Sora and the others about this" Riku said.

Hikari shook her head as she carefully went forward.

"I'm sure they heard the explosion as well and are on their way" she said.

"And I just couldn't wait for them while everyone is afraid"

Riku gripped his keyblade as he looked up at the roofs for anything.

"Just keep an eye out" he said.

"I don't think we're alone"

Hikari nodded and cautiously continued forward. Whoever it was that was doing this was no pushover.

The more they pushed forward the more they noticed how abandoned the area was. Whatever that was going on had everyone completely scared.

The only sound that was made was the sound of stone crunching underneath their shoes. Hikari carefully scanned the area making sure nothing was there. Even after fighting so many heartless and nobodies, she was still antsy.

Just then, an orange blob appeared out of nowhere and morphed into goopy like creatures. They hissed as they brandished goopy claws.

Riku and Hikari went into defensive mode as they faced the flan like enemy.

"What is that?" Riku asked.

"Is it a heartless?"

Hikari studied the flan like creature and couldn't find a heartless symbol nor a nobody insignia.

"I don't think so" she said.

"I think it's something entirely different"

Riku didn't care for the details and just attacked the creature. He stabbed his keyblade into the goopy like creature. He tried to pull his keyblade out but it was stuck within the goop.

"What's happening?" he grunted.

Hikari studied the flan for a moment to figure out what was going on. The keyblade wasn't working against this creature and was immune to physical attacks.

"_Maybe magic will work?" _she thought.

She held her hand up and channeled magic to her fingertips.

"Riku, move!" she ordered.

Riku jumped out of the way, not caring that his keyblade was sticking into the flan while Hikari launched a fire spell at it. The flan hissed out in pain and melted as the flames licked at its goopy skin. It turned into a puddle of orange goop.

Riku picked up his keyblade and shook off the orange substance from his trusted weapon.

"What was that?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I don't know" she said.

"But something tells me that those goopy creatures are just part of the problem here. I have a feeling we're going to run into more of them"

Riku looked at the orange puddle before looking ahead.

"Keep those spells going" he said.

"We're going to need it"

Hikari nodded and dismissed her keyblade.

"Dually noted" she said.

Riku ran ahead while Hikari followed. This new enemy was strange but that wasn't going to stop them from cutting them down.

/

More of those strange monsters kept appearing wherever they went. Some weren't so tough like the flans but others put up a fight and managed to land a couple of hits.

They knew they were getting close if the enemies were getting tougher. They could feel the darkness radiating off of the area and seeping into their souls.

"We're close" Riku said.

"Very close"

Hikari gulped as she felt the darkness. It was so foul and rotten that it made her choke a little. She had sense different types of darkness from her travels. Ansem and Xemnas' were filled with power and world domination. This darkness was filled with evil and danger. As if it wanted to kill something.

Steadying her nerves, she willed herself to go forward.

They reached the water fountains that Hikari showed Riku earlier and found that they weren't alone. Someone was standing up at the top of the fountain watching all of the destruction that was taking place.

It was a young woman who had messy black hair who wore an outfit that looked like it was ripped in places and stitched up horribly. The woman cackled as if she was enjoying what was happening.

Hikari glared at her and pained her keyblade at her. This was the person who was causing all of this chaos.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" she cried.

"Don't you realize you're harming innocent people?"

The woman looked over her shoulder for a second. She just scoffed and waved her hand summoning a behemoth like creature into the area.

The two heroes backed away when the behemoth roared at them and dug its claws into the ground.

Hikari gasped when she recognized this monster.

"_This is the monster that Laguna fought in that memory" _

Was this a coincidence? Or was it on purpose?

The woman smirked darkly and snapped her fingers.

"Make them suffer" she said.

The behemoth roared and lunched at them.

Riku grabbed Hikari and pulled her out of the way when the behemoth came closer. The monster turned around and snarled dangerously.

Hikari went into Wisdom mode and glided around the behemoth and shot various spells. Some had an effect on the monster, but others didn't. It was as if its strong skin was acting like a shield.

Riku dashed forward and went for the physical attacks, only to find that none of them worked. The keyblade just bounced off of the tough skin and hardly left a dent.

"What the?"

The Behemoth roared and swung its claw at Riku and had him flying into one of the walls.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

The behemoth heard her and turned around to attack her. Hikari gasped in fear and backed away, knowing that she was no match for this monster on her own. She kept backing away until she was pressed into one of the walls.

The behemoth raised its large claw to strike her down when a huge blast knocked it over.

Hikari looked up to see Leon standing on one of the upper levels of the fountain.

"Ni-san!" she cried.

Leon jumped off and stood in front of Hikari with his gunblade drawn.

"Next time you think about fighting by yourself, let me know" he said.

Hikari smiled embarrassingly.

"Sorry" she said.

Riku groaned as he stood up and held his side.

"Nice of you to join us" he said.

Leon rolled his eyes and kept them on the behemoth.

"When this is over, remind me to hit you" he said.

Riku summoned his keyblade and faced the behemoth.

With Leon now in the group, the three of them thought they could easily faced the Behemoth. Riku tried attacking it again but the results were still the same.

"I don't understand, why won't my keyblade work against this thing?" he asked.

"That's because it isn't a heartless or nobody" Leon.

"It's a fiend. It still has its heart so obviously the keyblades won't work"

Hikari looked at her weapon sadly. After using her trusty keyblade in all of her battles, it was useless against these things?

"How are we suppose to defeat it then?" she asked.

"They're weak against magic" Leon said.

"Just blast it with some of your powerful spells and it'll be down within seconds. I'll distract it while you come up with some strong magic"

Hikari dismissed her keyblade and flexed her fingers nervously.

"I'll try" she said.

Leon went to the offensive and attacked the Behemoth. The way he attacked and dodged the monster showed that he had dealt with these creatures before. His gunblade proved to be useful as it was able to cut through the tough skin and leave it vulnerable.

When Hikari found an opening, she clasped her hands tightly and chanted one of her stronger spells.

"Holy!"

Beams of white light shot up from underneath the Behemoth and impaled into the creature like they were spears. The Behemoth let out an anguished cry before it toppled over lifelessly.

Hikari cheered when she saw her spell actually worked.

"I did it!" she cried.

Clapping echoed throughout the area as the mysterious female applauded them.

"Bravo, bravo" she said with mock cheer.

"You're a lot stronger than you look"

She jumped from the fountain, landing perfectly on her feet. Her boots clicked as she walked towards them with her arms spread open.

"My master said that you were powerful, I didn't believe her until just now" she said.

"You'll fit perfectly within our plans"

Hikari studied her face carefully to see she had pale white skin with messy black hair that covered the side of her face. She wore a vicious looking smirk that matched the crazy look in her gold eyes. This woman sided with the darkness and it showed.

The woman clapped her hands together.

"Yes, you'll be perfect for our revolution" she said.

Hikari gulped nervously at this strange woman.

Revolution? What revolution?

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked.

The woman cackled and held her hands up in the air.

"Congratulations, valid knights" she declared.

"You have been gifted with a very important task. The worlds are vulnerable from outside danger. Their enemy is time who dwindles them to nothing more than empty husks. With time slowly but surely sucking the life out of them, there is only one way to protect them and that it with time itself"

She bowed lowly to them.

"So join me by protecting the worlds new ruler: Lady Ultimecia"

Leon's gunblade clattered to the ground, the color draining from his face.

"Ulti..mecia?" he choked out.

The woman smiled darkly.

"Oh, so you know about my master?" she cooed.

"Wonderful. You'll make a fine knight by protecting her"

Leon's gazed harden at such a thought.

"I would rather die than protect that monster" he snapped.

The woman frowned making her look scary.

"Oh? So you would rather oppose living under the protection to someone who can handle time than join them?" she asked.

Leon picked up his gunblade and glared at her.

"You got that right"

The woman hissed out a sigh.

"How pitiful" she said.

"Looks like I'll have to kill you then"

She snapped her fingers summoning another fiend.

"Oh Griever!" she sang.

A monstrous looking lion appeared and snarled at them. The mysterious woman went up to the creature and stroked its mane.

"Oh, who's a good little boy?" she cooed.

"I have some nice snacks for you right over here"

Griever roared and lunged at his food. Leon held up his gunblade ready to attack but it wasn't needed since help appeared.

Tsukiko flung her scythe and hit Griever in the head while Sora and Ankoku got in front of their friends as shields.

"Looks like we made it in time" Sora said.

"You're late" Riku retorted.

Ankoku glared at him and gave him the finger.

"Hey, piss off pretty boy. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that fugly dress off? I don't think so, now shut up while we take care of this mo-fo"

Tsukiko landed next to them and slung her scythe on her shoulder.

"That never gets old"

The mysterious woman gave Tsukiko a murderous glare.

"You" she hissed.

Tsukiko glared at her in return.

"Well what do you know? You're still alive" she said.

"I thought the heartless ate you up. I guess they didn't want to bother with trash like you either"

The mysterious woman snarled and summoned up red daggers.

"Oh, I'll show you who's trash you filthy nobody" she spat.

Tsukiko got into a fighting stance and had a wicked smirk on her face.

"Ladies first, but then again I don't think you're qualified as a lady"

The mysterious woman yelled as she lunged at Tsukiko.

While the two of them fought, Sora and Ankoku were dealt with Griever.

"Let's see if this ugly looking cat has nine lives" Ankoku said.

"Be careful!" Hikari called out.

"The keyblades won't work on these creatures. You'll have to use magic"

Ankoku smirked darkly and dismissed her keyblades.

"Or I could just use my fists" she said.

She looked at Sora and pointed at Griever.

"I'll distract him while you aim for his weak spot" she said.

"And make it quick because I think that psycho bitch that Tsukiko is fighting is no pushover"

Sora nodded and ran off to find Griever's weak spot while Ankoku caught his attention.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" she called.

Griever growled at her when Ankoku gave him a rude gesture.

"You think you have what it takes to beat me? Then let me see what you've got"

Griever roared and lunged for her, only to have Ankoku side step at the last second.

Griever slammed into one of the fountain walls and caused it to break from impact.

"Damn you're slow" Ankoku said.

"Even Hikari's faster than that"

"Hey!" Hikari cried.

Griever pulled himself out of the wall and went to attack Ankoku again. The nobody simply played with the lion by using her psychic powers and saw every move that the lion was going to make next. She was pretty much tiring out the ugly best while Sora waited for the right opening to strike.

Ankoku just laughed as the lion tried to swipe at her with its big paws while she simply stepped out of the way.

At one point she got crafty and managed to make the monster look stupid.

"Hey, look at my hand"

Griever looked at her hand and got punched by her other.

"Ha ha, stupid"

Griever whimpered as he held his nose with his paw, leaving himself vulnerable. That was the perfect chance for Sora and dashed under the lion's belly, slicing it with his keyblade.

Griever howled in pain before collapsing and disappearing in dark particles.

Ankoku pumped her fist in victory.

"Yeah! That's how we do it on my world, bitch!" she cheered.

Just as they managed to defeat Griever, Tsukiko got the upper hand in her fight and sent the mysterious woman crashing into one of the fountains.

"Ha! You're still pathetic now as you were back then"

The mysterious woman sat up, water dripping down her face and growled like a crazy animal.

She jumped up and lunged for Tsukiko with the intent of killing her. Just as she was about to strike, her body froze in mid attack.

"Wha-what just happened?" she snarled.

She tried moving her body but found it was frozen in place.

"That will be enough Akumuko"

The mysterious woman now known as Akumuko gulped when she heard that voice.

A woman appeared out of nowhere wearing a plunging dark brown dress with a large sun hair ornament. Her face was completely hidden by an orange mask and only showed her orange colored lips.

She went over to Akumuko and placed her clawed hand on her shoulder.

"I thought I told you to control that temper of yours" she said in an icy voice.

"With the way that you are now, we'll never find any knights to help us reach our goal"

She waved her hand and unfroze Akumuko. The insane woman looked at her college as if she were a child that was caught.

"But you don't understand!" she cried.

"They thought our dream was stupid and I had to teach them a lesson. They deserve to die!"

The woman simply held her hand up, telling Akumuko to be silent as she looked at the group before them.

"Your temper blinds you from everything" she said.

"We'll need these children if we're going to succeed with our plans. Do I make myself clear?"

Akumuko pouted but bowed.

"Yes Lady Ultimecia"

Leon's body froze when he realized he was facing such a dangerous person.

Hikari stepped forward as she heard the name and tried to get a better look at their enemy.

"She's Ultimecia?" she asked.

She went to get a little closer but Leon grabbed her and pulled her behind him.

"Stay away from her!" he ordered.

"She's dangerous"

Ultimecia laughed sending chills down everyone's spines.

"Why if it isn't little Squall trying to play the knight" she said.

"So you're trying to be the knight for your sister since you failed horribly being one for your mother"

Leon growled making everyone jump.

"You keep my mother out of this you witch" he spat.

Ultimecia just chuckled.

"Oh I wish that I could" she said sarcastically.

"However…"

She pulled out a set of army dog tags from within her dress.

"I'm afraid she's heavily involved now"

She flung the tags to them and let them scatter to the floor.

Hikari slowly picked them up and saw they were the same tags that Taiyouko showed her when she talked about her real father.

Fear coursed through her veins when she realized that her mother was in danger.

She looked at the evil sorceress who simply smirked at her.

"What did you do to my mom?" she cried.

Ultimecia smirked darkly.

"Just what was coming to her" she said.

Hikari felt her blood boil as she heard that. If this monster harmed her mother, then she was going to pay.

Summoning her keyblade she charged for Ultimecia.

"Hikari, don't!" Leon cried.

Ultimecia just laughed and held her hand out.

"Time!"

Hikari's body froze suddenly freezing her in mid run. She tried to will her body to move but it was no use.

Ultimecia waved her hand again and sent a blast of dark energy at her. Hikari was thrown back and slammed into the wall.

"Hikari!" Riku cried.

He and Leon ran to her aid and saw her slowly get up. The side of her outfit was completely burnt and started to come apart. If her outfit that was infused with magic could be damaged, then Ultimecia was no push over.

Sora, Ankoku and Tsukiko quickly blocked them from attacking Hikari again and had their weapons at the ready.

Akumuko went to attack again but Ultimecia stopped her.

"That's enough for one day" she said.

"Let's have them run around a bit before we play with them again"

Akumuko dismissed her knifes and nodded.

"Very well"

Ultimecia looked at Hikari and smirked.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Hikari" she said.

"You'll be of great use to me"

She disappeared in a burst of black flames.

Akumuko laughed darkly.

"Gotta fly"

Black, mangles back wings protruded from her back as she flew off to follow her master.

Sora gulped nervously at the sight then looked at Hikari who was leaning against Riku.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded but flinched from the pain.

"I should be" she said.

"But that's the least of our problems. Who were those two?"

Leon's hand curled into a fist.

"The one with the mask is Ultimecia and she's bad news" he said.

"She makes Maleficent look like a pussy cat with the power she holds"

Hikari, Riku and Sora paled at the thought of someone being stronger than Maleficent.

"Well then who was that crazy bitch that looked like she was ready to kill someone?" Ankoku asked.

"Her name is Akumuko and she's a walking nightmare" Tsukiko said.

Everyone looked at the nobody surprised.

"You know her?" Sora asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Unfortunately. We did come from the same person after all"

Hikari felt the color drain from her face.

"You mean…"

Tsukiko nodded.

"She's Taiyouko's heartless"

/

**A/N: Aw snap! Not only do we have to deal with Ultimecia but apparently Taiyouko has a crazy heartless that no one knew about. It seems like the evil sorceress of time did something to Taiyouko and now the gang has to find out what happened to her before it's too late. **

**And just as a heads up, I know Ultimecia's outfit isn't the same as from the Final Fantasy 8 game but there's a reason behind that. Her new outfit along with the hair ornaments will be explained later on in the chapter.**

**And I'm sorry for Ankoku's swearing. She's the complete opposite of Hikari so she's going to have a foul mouth in this story. But hey, she makes things funny.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	12. The start of another adventure

Chapter 12: The start of another adventure

**A/N: In honor of Kingdom Hearts 3D coming out on Tuesday, I decided to update with a brand new chapter! (That and I'll be playing the game non-stop so you won't be hearing from me for a while). Now that Ultimecia and Akumuko have shown their ugly heads it's time for the gang to stop them and rescue Taiyouko. I wonder how this adventure will be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's **

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari flinched as Kairi tried clean up her burn. That blast that Ultimecia threw at her left her with a nasty burn running down the side of her body as well as ruining her outfit.

Merlin tried to fix using his magic, but it wouldn't work.

"I'm afraid this type of magic is beyond my reach" he said.

"You're lucky you survived being hit with such power"

Hikari didn't say anything and just tugged on the vest Riku let her use for the meantime. Her mind was still wrapped around Ultimecia and Akumuko. Just who were they and what did they want with her?

Better yet what did they want with Taiyouko?

Her fingers were still wrapped around the army tags that Ultimecia threw at her. Her mother was in danger and Ultimecia was responsible for it. That much she was sure.

She closed her eyes and leaned against Leon. Both he and Riku hadn't left her side since she got hurt and kept hovering around her. It was getting a little annoying but at least they were arguing with each other at the moment.

Angelo whimpered as he placed his head on Hikari's lap. It seemed he was upset that his master was hurt and wished that he could take her pain away.

Hikari smiled weakly and scratched his ears.

"It's ok, Angelo" she said.

Mickey survived the scene before him. Sora had explained to him what happened near the fountains and who their enemy was. He really had no idea what to make of this situation. He was baffled at the fact that Taiyouko had a heartless and that she was still around. After Kingdom Hearts was sealed up once more the heartless and nobodies were supposed to be gone, yet Akumuko was still here.

Either Kingdom Hearts was still opened or they were dealing with something very dangerous.

He needed to know what they were dealing with.

"Tsukiko" Mickey said.

The nobody looked at the king in a tired manner. She knew what he was going to ask of her.

"Yes, your Majesty?"

Mickey gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sure you don't want to talk about this and you're confused by what's going on" he said.

"But I need to know what this heartless that you all ran into. Who is she and why is she still here?"

Tsukiko sighed and pulled her hair loose from its band. This was starting to become a long night.

"I don't really remember much about my past here on Radiant Garden since Taiyouko sent me to live in Twilight Town. But I do remember that when I was 'born' I wasn't the only one. If a person has a nobody they obviously have a heartless. I'm Taiyouko's Nobody while Akumuko is her heartless. Much like Ansem, Taiyouko's heart created a humanoid heartless. That's how strong her heart is"

Mickey gulped nervously. He never realized Taiyouko had the power to have a humanoid heartless.

"Just who is Akumuko? What is her purpose being here?"

Tsukiko shook her head.

"I couldn't tell you" she said.

"All I know is that Taiyouko didn't like her and kept her away from the castle. She was probably afraid that she would eat people's hearts or something. That or she was terrified of the power she wielded"

Hikari perked up at that. Why would her mother be afraid of her own heartless?

"What kind of power does she have?"

Tsukiko gave her a grim look.

"She has the power to control dreams and nightmares" she said.

"She can enter your dreams and twist them in a way to her liking. She lives off of the fears that people have when they sleep and destroys them by making them have nightmares all the time and turn them into empty shells of their former selves. Her name doesn't mean 'nightmare child' for nothing"

Hikari whimpered and leaned in further to Leon. It was bad enough that she couldn't sleep without a nightlight but now she had to sleep knowing a crazy heartless could enter them and make her have nightmares.

"I wonder why she's teamed up with Ultimecia?" Sora asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

"She looked crazy when we saw her, maybe she's drawn to crazy people?" she suggested.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Oh she's crazy alright and that's what makes her dangerous. She doesn't think, she just acts"

"That's the perfect kind of person Ultimecia needs" Leon spat.

Hikari looked up at her brother. She wondered how he knew about Ultimecia and figured there was something he was hiding.

"Ni-san, how do you know about Ultimecia? Did you meet her before?"

Leon's face hardens at the thought.

"Oh yeah, I met her" he said.

"She came this world a long time ago looking for someone. Mom managed to make sure she didn't return but it seems that it didn't work"

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now. It's not a happy moment in my past"

Hikari nodded and snuggled closer to her brother.

Riku sat in a chair in complete silence. He hadn't said a single word since they came to Merlin's home. His mind was wrapped around the fact that Taiyouko was missing. Ever since they met in Castle Oblivion, they were always together. They helped each other get through the hard times when Hikari and Sora were still asleep. They figured out how to defeat Organization Xlll and were able to reunite with their friends. Taiyouko was always there for Riku, she was there when the darkness tried to consume his heart, she was there when he transformed into Xeahnort's heartless, she was always there for him. Always. She became his source of comfort when he was troubled and would always talk him through it. She became more than just a traveling companion to him, she became one of his best friends.

So the fact that she was in danger did not settle well with him. She was in trouble and she needed help.

He suddenly stood from his seat, causing everyone to look. The keyblade wielder had a serious look on his face as he thought about his plan.

"We can't just stay here when there's an evil sorceress running around and trying to take over the worlds" he said.

"We need to stop her before she does anything worse. And we need to save Taiyouko"

He looked at Hikari sadly.

"I know you're worried sick about your mom, I am too" he said.

"I don't know what Ultimecia's done to her, but I promise that I'll find her and make sure she's ok. I owe her so much"

Hikari smiled weakly. She was happy that her boyfriend got along so well with her mom, they acted like best friend when they were together.

"I'm sure mom would be happy knowing that you would want to save her" she said.

Sora smiled at the idea of another adventure.

"Looks like it's up to us to save the worlds again" he said.

He looked at Donald, Goofy and King Mickey.

"What do you say? Let's all go on another adventure together"

Donald and Goofy cheered at the thought of traveling with their friends again while Mickey smiled.

Ankoku pumped her fist.

"Yeah! Let's go kick some bad guy ass!" she cried.

Tsukiko just shook her head and smiled.

"I guess I'll be seeing new worlds as well"

Everyone brightening up at the prospect of traveling again but Leon was having none of it.

"Hold it, hold it" he said.

"Why are you being so happy about traveling? This is no walk in the park. Ultimecia is dangerous and she'll eat you up as if you were breakfast"

He looked at Hikari's injury before looking at everyone.

"If you're going to fight this sorceress, you're going to need someone who knows how"

Hikari felt a smile forming on her face as she heard that.

"Ni-san, you mean you're going to…"

Leon nodded.

"I'm going with"

Hikari squealed and hugged her brother tightly. She always felt bad when she had to travel and leave her brother behind. It was as if she was leaving a part of herself behind. But now Leon was going to travel with her and see all the worlds that she went to while fighting the heartless. This was a dream come true.

Riku however thought it was a nightmare and didn't like how this was shaping up. If Leon went with that meant he would get in the way of his bonding time with Hikari-or try to kill him.

Sora smiled at the idea of Leon joining as well.

"This is going to awesome!" he said.

"Wait until you see some of the worlds we've been to like Halloween Town and Atlantica. You're going to love it"

Leon just 'hmm' at the thought.

"The only thing that I'll be happy about is saving my mom and defeating Ultimecia once and for all" he said.

"Then it's settled then" Mickey said.

Goofy held his hand out.

"All for one and one for all" he said.

Everyone put their hands in the middle and strengthened the bond that they all shared.

When they broke, Sora looked at Mickey.

"So how are we supposed to defeat this sorceress anyway?" he asked.

Mickey smiled as if he knew the answer.

"We'll just have to talk to someone who knows all that there is about the outside world" he said.

"Master Yen Sid"

/

**A/N: It looks like it's up to the gang to save the world again and this time Leon's joining them! This is going to be interesting seeing our favorite gunblade master traveling to different worlds with his sister.**

**Just what kind of information will Yen Sid give them about Ultimecia? **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	13. Weapon Upgrade and History Lesson

Chapter 13: Weapon Upgrade and History Lesson

**A/N: Hey everyone! I managed to pull myself away from Kingdom Hearts 3D to write another chapter! (Even though it was hard to) And as the title says, everyone gets new weapons! With the keyblades being no good in this adventure, they need to get weapons that will really pack a punch and stop Utlimecia and Akumuko for causing trouble. **

**We also learn a little more about Ultimecia and the history of sorceresses. And just a head's up, I'll be giving Ultimecia a back story that wasn't covered in Final Fantasy 8. I'm sure everyone would like to know just what caused our favorite sorceress of time to become so evil, right? So please don't be mad if I change a few things! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

It had been decided that since Leon was joining Hikari and the others that Mikomi was in charge of the Restoration Committee in his stead. With the damage that Akumuko and Ultimecia created, she was going to have her hands full. But that was ok since Mikomi needed to keep herself distracted. Cloud hadn't returned from his fight with Sephiroth and she was growing worried. It was four months already and she was starting to fear that he wasn't alive.

Sora felt it would be dangerous if Kairi tagged along with them so he had to ask her to stay with Mikomi and the others. It tore his heart up that he had to leave her behind but she didn't know how to fight and would only get in the way. Kairi understood perfectly and said she was happy to stay on her old home world and catch up. She said she would try to find any information regarding Ultimecia or Akumuko and would let them know when she did.

"You and Riku have to promise me that you won't let anything happen to Hikari" she said.

"If she gets hurt I'll hurt you both"

The two boys nodded and promised that they would keep her safe. Riku more so than Sora; but that could be because Hikari was his girlfriend.

Hikari was on cloud 9 at the thought that her favorite older brother would be traveling worlds with her. Now he could see what the Pride Lands or Halloween Town looked like and see that he could change with each world.

"This is going to be so much fun!" she said.

"You're going to love traveling, Ni-san! Wait until I show you all of the worlds that I've been to!"

Leon gave her a weak smirk in response. He didn't realize his sister would be this excited about him joining. But if it kept her mind off of Riku then he was going to enjoy this trip.

"Just remember that this isn't a vacation" he said.

"Oh, I know Ni-san" Hikari said.

"But I'm just happy that I can spend more time with you!"

Leon smirked but had dark thoughts.

"_Ha! She's more happy to spend time with me than with that boyfriend of hers. This is going to be a fun trip"_

Sora Mickey walked inside the Gummi ship and looked around.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked.

"Looks like it" Tsukiko said.

"Then let's get going!" Donald said.

Sora and Donald looked at each other for a moment before they rushed over to the captain's seat.

"I'm driving!" Sora said.

"No I am!" Donald countered.

The two of them wrestled with each other to get to the captain's seat but Mickey beat them to it.

"How about I drive for this trip?" he suggested.

When Donald and Sora went to protect Mickey gave them a serious look that made them stay quiet.

"Ha ha! You got told by a mouse" Ankoku said.

Everyone took their seats as Mickey started the ship up.

"We should be at Yen Sid's pretty soon but buckles up just to be safe"

Everyone got secured and felt the ship take off. Hikari looked out the window to see Radiant Garden get smaller and smaller as they went up. Next thing she knew they were in the Lanes in Between where it would take them to Yen Sid.

Hikari rest her head into the seat in exhaustion. She really didn't get any sleep from the night before thanks to a combination of excitement and fear. She was super excited that Leon was traveling with them but she was afraid thinking what could have happened to her mom.

"_Mom" _she thought.

"_Where are you?"_

She sighed and fiddled with her pendant. It felt weird having in back. After she gave it to Riku for safe keeping, she felt weird not having it, but she got used to it while she traveled. Now she had to get used to having it back on.

Her pendant was not only her connection with Riku, but with her mom as well. Taiyouko was the one who made her pendant so in a way a part of her was in it as well.

She closed her eyes feeling tired from thinking about what could have happened to her mom. She didn't where she was or if she was alright. All that she did know was that she was going to find her and bring her back. That was her duty as not only a keyblade wielder but as a sorceress of light and a daughter.

She opened her eyes when she felt someone held her hand.

Riku gave her hand a squeeze and smiled weakly.

"It's going to be ok. I promise" he said.

Hikari smiled weakly in return, but it wasn't very reassuring.

"I know" she said.

"But I'm afraid of what might happen-what's going to happen. I've never dealt with a sorceress before, or at least someone like Ultimecia"

"Neither have I" Riku said.

"But you know what? Neither of us had never dealt with heartless and nobodies when we first saw them and look how well we turned out? Just because you've never dealt with something before doesn't mean it'll be bad. You just have to believe in yourself"

Hikari pondered what Riku said. He was right; when she first saw the heartless she didn't know if she could fight them and yet here she was a year later being a master at it. Maybe Riku was right, maybe she could take on a sorceress without any experience.

"You're right" she said.

"Thanks Riku"

Riku smiled and ran his hand through her hair.

"Anything to cheer you up" he said.

"Now get some rest, you look drained"

Hikari laughed a little and nodded.

"Ok" she said.

She closed her eyes and let herself get swept away in the land of dreams.

/

"_Hikari! Leon! Wait!"_

_Hikari laughed as she and Leon ran away from Taiyouko. They were playing around the castle gardens and decided to have their mom chase them around. It was funny seeing Taiyouko trying to catch them even though she wasn't a fast runner._

"_You can't catch us, mommy!" Hikari cried._

_Leon laughed as he tugged Hikari along the flowerbeds. This was their favorite spot to play since everywhere they walked they would see colorful flowers and smell wonderful scents. It was like living in a dream._

_Hikari let go of Leon's hand and ran ahead a little to an oak tree that was up ahead. She hoped that she would be able hide behind in and scare her mom when she came by. It was funny to see Taiyouko get flustered._

_When she reached the tree she hid behind it and giggled. Her mom was going to be so surprised._

_The sound of a twig snap caught her attention and caused her to turn around. Dark flames slowly engulfed a patch of flowers and grew higher as someone came out of the flames. _

_Leon caught up and watched as someone came out of the flames. Panic flared through the young boy when saw that his sister was in danger._

"_Hikari run!" he cried._

_Just before she could run a claw hand snatched out and reached out for her._

"_**You're mine"**_

/

Hikari jolted awake when she felt something wet slide across her face followed by hot air. Groaning, she saw Angelo was standing on top of her and panted in her face. The dog wagged his tail when he saw that his master was awake and barked.

Hikari laughed and scratched his ears.

"Ok, Angelo, I'm awake" she said.

Angelo got off of her and went to Riku when he came over.

"We just landed" he said.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

Hikari stretched and rubbed her neck.

"Not really. I had a strange dream" she said.

"Oh?" Riku questioned.

Hikari got up and followed him out of the ship.

"It was more like a memory" she said.

"I was playing with Leon and mom and I hid behind this tree. When I hid behind it, someone appeared in these dark flames and a clawed hand reached out for me"

Riku raised an eyebrow. That was a rather bizarre dream.

"Who was it?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I don't know" she said.

"But whoever it was, was scary. It was as if this person wanted me for something and said I was theirs. Scary, right?"

Riku nodded and held her hand.

"I'm sure it wasn't bad" he said.

"But just remember it was just a dream. Nothing can harm you when you're sleeping"

Hikari nodded.

"Right"

They got off the ship and walked through the trees to where they could see Yen Sid's tower. The last time that Hikari was here, she was starting her journey to defeat Organization Xlll and find Riku. Now she was back again to start her journey to defeat Ultimecia and find her mother.

"I hope Yen Sid can give us the answers we're looking for" Mickey said.

"Of course he will" Donald said.

"Master Yen Sid is legendary"

"I just hope he can give me a new outfit" Hikari said.

"I'm sure Riku wants his vest back"

Riku gave her a sly smirk as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, I don't know. You do look rather cute in my clothes" he said.

"I think you should wear it a bit longer"

Hikari blushed when Riku flirted with her. Even after four months of dating she still got embarrassed when he teased her like that.

Leon on the other hand had a dark aura covering his being and he was about to strangle Riku if it weren't for Tsukiko.

"Easy, Tiger" she said.

"Let them have a little fun. It's not like he's going to do anything, right?"

Leon grumbled as he walked towards the tower.

"That's what I'm afraid of" he muttered.

They reached the tower and looked at the doors.

"I hope Yen Sid doesn't mind the sudden drop in" Sora said.

Ankoku just went inside acting like she didn't care of the consequences. Everyone followed her inside and went up the spiral staircase that lead to Yen Sid's chambers.

Mickey went up to the door to knock on it but it magically opened on its own. Yen Sid sat at his desk with a knowing look.

"I've been expecting you" he said.

"We have much to talk about"

Everyone slowly went inside and gathered into the room.

Mickey bowed to pay respect to his teacher.

"Master Yen Sid. It's good to see you again" he said.

Yen Sid nodded.

"I could say the same. However due to recent events I wouldn't call them good"

Hikari slowly approached the desk and bowed to the legendary sorcerer. If there was anyone who knew about magic and sorceresses, it had to be him.

"Master Yen Sid, I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I'm in dire need of your help" she said.

Yen Sid nodded his head, encouraging her to go on. Hikari went into what happened and why she needed help.

"My mother was captured by a sorceress named Ultimecia"

Yen Sid straightened up when he heard that.

"Ultimecia?" he repeated.

Hikari nodded.

"Yes. We ran into her in Radiant Garden. She seems to have power over time and wants to control the worlds. Tell me, do you know who she is?"

Yen Sid sighed wearily as he nodded.

"Unfortunately, I do" he said.

"Utlimecia is a powerful and dangerous sorceress. In some aspects she's even more powerful than me"

Mickey gasped in fear. Someone who was powerful than Yen Sid?

"Who is she?" Hikari asked.

"Where did she come from? Why is she doing this?"

"Not where-_when_" Yen Sid corrected.

"huh?"

Yen Sid stood up from his seat and went over to the window.

"Ultimecia is not from this timeline" he explained.

"She is a sorceress that is from the very far distant future. She has the power to travel through time and enter any era that she wishes"

Hikari gulped. Someone who can travel through time and cause havoc just because they could.

"As to why she is here, I can assume she is looking for something" The great sorcerer said.

"What could she be after?" Sora asked.

"Is it Kingdom Hearts?"

Yen Sid shook his head.

"Such a notion would never cross her mind" he said.

"Controlling the heart of all worlds is a childish dream in her eyes. What she wants is to control time itself. To be the master of the timeline would mean she could change any event in history to her liking. Past, present and the future would be in the palm of her hand. That is what she is after"

Leon looked away, already knowing about Ultimecia and what she wanted. But that was something only he would know.

"If she wants to control time, then why did she come to this time?" Hikari asked.

"What could she possibly want in this era?"

Yen Sid turned around and gave her a serious look.

"A successor" he said.

Hikari took a step back. She didn't like where this was going.

Yen Sid slowly approached them and looked at this group that sought out for his help.

"In order to understand I must tell you the history of sorceresses. From how they were born up to where they are today"

Hikari slowly nodded. Finally she would be able to learn about her lineage and how she was born as a sorceress.

Yen Sid went back to his seat as he told his tale.

"Long ago, back when the worlds were still one, there was a sorcerer who went by the name of Hyne" he said.

"He controlled every aspect of life be it magic or not. He was considered a god among everyone with his power over everything. They worshiped him and begged to be gifted with his power. However Hyne wouldn't give them the power he wielded. He knew that such power must be protected from the wrong hands. In order to keep the world in balance, he must be the only one to harbor such magic. People started to grow jealous and fought over for that power much like they did with the light. The fighting grew to the point where darkness reached into peoples hearts and caused the worlds to split. When that happened, Hyne himself was destroyed. Before he died he channeled his power into the young children who survived. Some were able absorb his magic while to others it just left them. Those who were blessed with Hyne's soul were usually girls. They had a natural talent when it came to magic and were able to channel Hyne's soul within theirs. They known as sorceresses and could perform magic that no one should be able to. They could control the way the weather works or control time. They were the living proof of Hyne's existence and protect the magic that they possessed. People used to praise them, thinking they were the daughters of Hyne, but over time, they began to fear them knowing they controlled magic that should never be touched"

Hikari looked at the ground sadly. Now she knew why people always feared her mother and herself. They were gifted with powers that no one was supposed to possess. They were liked corrupted divine beings.

"As time went by Sorceresses began to grow hungry with power" Yen Sid continued.

"They felt that the power they possessed wasn't enough and sought out other sorceresses so they could take their power. But in order to obtain that power they had to absorb them within their being"

Riku felt himself twitch when he heard the word absorb.

"You mean, they became living puppets for the other Sorceresses?" he asked.

Yen Sid nodded.

"Some were able to succeeded while others weren't. As time went by, Sorceresses slowly dwindled as they were taken over by others. There's only a handful of them now in this time. They tend to hide within others and try to hide their origins, fearing that another sorceress will try to take their powers away. The only way that a person can tell is if they saw their sorceress mark"

"Sorceress Mark?" Hikari repeated.

Yen Sid waved his hand in front of Hikari. Her back started to glow where the image of a heart with white wings appeared.

"Sorceress marks vary with each individual" he explained.

"Depending which side they're on, they could either be a sorceress of light or a sorceress of darkness. It all depends on where their hearts reside"

"Then that must mean Utlimecia and Akumuko are sorceresses of darkness, right?" Goofy asked.

Yen Sid nodded.

"You can tell which side they're on by the wings on their markings" he said.

"White represents light while black represents darkness"

Ankoku and Tsukiko looked at each other.

"I wonder if we have those markings too?" Ankoku asked.

Tsukiko looked at her body for a moment.

"I think I know where mine is" she said.

She lifted the shorts to her outfit and revealed a crescent moon that had a little flame in the center and black bat wings on the side.

"I always thought it was a birthmark but now I see it's my marking" she said.

Ankoku looked at her body to see where her marking was and huffed when she couldn't find it.

"This sucks, I want to see what mine looks like" she said.

Sora spotted something that was poking out from the bottom of her top.

"Hey, I think I found it" he said.

Ankoku looked at him.

"Where?" she asked.

Sora pointed to his back for reference.

"It's on your lower back"

Ankoku tried to look at her back but couldn't turn around all the way so she ran to a mirror and lifted her shirt up a little to see her mark. Hers was in the shape of a blue sea shell with blue butterfly wings next to it.

"Now that fits me perfectly" she said.

"But why aren't my wings white? I'm not a sorceress of darkness, I'm a good guy"

"I said it all depends on the sorceress' heart" Yen Sid said.

"Even if a sorceress is leagued with the sorceresses of darkness, if their hearts lean towards the light, then they are considered good"

"I guess that makes sense" Ankoku said.

Hikari looked at Yen Sid.

"Do we actually get wings?" she asked.

"Before Ultimecia and Akumuko left, Akumuko had these black wings coming out of her back"

"Yes, you do" Yen Sid said.

"Wings symbolize the divine powers you were gifted by Hyne. It shows your god like powers"

"Wow, so you're like part god or something" Goofy said.

"I bet Hercules would like that"

Hikari laughed a little and shook her head.

"Nah, I'm still me. Nothing will change that"

Mickey looked at his master for further guidance.

"Yen Sid, we're going to stop Ultimecia from attacking the worlds, but we need to find a way to do it" he said.

"Our keyblades won't work because she isn't a heartless or nobody. Is there any way that we can stop her?"

Yen Sid nodded.

"I will provide you weapons that are meant to defeat sorceresses like Ultimecia" he said.

"But first, I believe Hikari is in need of a new wardrobe?"

Hikari blushed as she looked at herself.

"Um, yeah, I do" she said.

"Ultimecia ruined the magic clothes you gave me with her magic. I guess her magic was stronger than the ones that made my outfit"

Yen Sid cracked a smirk.

"I'll provide you an outfit that will handle her magic" he said.

He stood up and held his hands out.

"Don't be picky with what I provide you"

He shot his magic at Hikari and transformed her outfit. Everyone watched when the light died away to reveal Hikari's brand new outfit.

She wore a pink rib-knit, long sleeveless sweater with white angel wings on the back and matching arm warmers. A black halter top underneath it was a peach colored skirt covering black bike shorts and black boots with pinks zippers on them.

"Wow, Hikari, you look cute" Goofy said.

Hikari smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks Goofy"

Leon sighed with relief when he saw that her outfit wasn't skimpy like that last one.

"That's much better" he said.

Hikari picked up Riku's vest and handed it to him.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your vest" she said.

Riku smirked and put his vest back on.

"Hey, that's what boyfriends are for" he said.

Leon growled at the scene and looked at Yen Sid.

"Could you give us our weapons so we can be on our way? We have a sorceress to catch"

Hikari huffed at her brother.

"Ni-san, don't be rude" she scolded.

Yen Sid just laughed and shook his head.

"Your brother is right. With each moment that is wasted, Ultimecia is getting closer to her goal. You'll need to hurry if you ever want to stop her"

He held his hands out in front of him.

"I shall now give you weapons that will help you with your quest. These weapons shall work with your keyblades and will merge with them should you ever find yourself in a dire situation" he said.

"The weapons that will appear before you shall reflect your heart's desires"

He waved his hands and brought forth magical weapons that would aid in defeating Ultimecia.

Ankoku was given a pair of white and black nun chucks that looked similar to her Oblivion keyblade and her regular one. And like her marking, they held a sea shell motif to them.

Tsukiko was given brass knuckles that were yellow and had blades as the end that looked like crescent moons.

Sora was given a chained whip with a hook that had the same crown symbol as his necklace.

Riku was given a machine gun that had a similar color scheme to his keyblade.

Leon scowled when he saw the machine gun. Seeing the weapon reminded him of a certain someone.

"Just like him" he muttered.

Hikari's weapon was rather strange where she had a large disk strapped to her arm. The disk was shaped like a group of wings and would retract to a signal one when not used. It was rather odd indeed.

"What is this?" Hikari asked.

"That there is called a blaster edge" Yen Sid explained.

"It acts similar to a boomerang where if you launch it, it will come back to you. It's rather useful for long range attacks"

Hikari examined her new weapon in wonder. She flipped as switch that was strapped to her arm and accidentally launched her weapon. Everyone ducked as the weapon bounced off the walls before coming back to Hikari and clipping to her arm. The sorceress laughed nervously when everyone gave her a sour look.

"Sorry" she said.

Yen Sid cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Before you go, there is one more thing that I need you to do" he said.

He looked at Hikari and pointed to her.

"You must find yourself a knight"

Hikari raised an eyebrow at the idea. A knight? Why did she need a knight?

"Why would I need a knight for?" she asked.

"Like I mentioned before, Sorceresses hunted other sorceresses for power" Yen Sid explained.

"While they were powerful, they could never really defend themselves. Some sorceresses found people who could protect them from harm and created a special bond with their protectors. These are knights. They are sworn to protect their sorceress with their lives and will not stop at anything to keep them safe. That is the price they must pay"

He looked at Leon with a knowing look.

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Leon closed his eyes, recalling his past. Slowly he pulled off one of his gloves and showed a griever lion tattooed to his hand.

"That is the mark of the sorceress knight" Yen Sid said.

"It shows that they are bound to their sorceress and that they will only serve that sorceress and no one else"

Leon put his glove back on and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I promised myself that I would protect mom no matter what" he said quietly.

"I guess I failed to keep that promise"

Hikari looked at her brother sadly.

"Ni-san" she breathed.

"You must choose someone who will protect you in this journey Hikari" Yen Sid said.

"If you don't you'll be in grave danger"

Hikari looked at Yen Sid with slight worry. She didn't know that she was in danger. She was capable of taking care of herself. She shouldn't have someone throw their life away just so save hers.

"But-but what if I don't want a knight?" she asked.

"I'm afraid you must have one" Yen Sid said.

"That is the law of the sorceresses. If you don't, then you're as good as dead"

Hikari gripped her pendant tightly.

"Then…who must I choose?" she asked.

"Whoever is willing to keep you safe" Yen Sid said.

Hikari closed her eyes. She could never ask her friends for such a selfish reason. She thought Leon would be more than happy to protect her, but he was bound by their mother and couldn't be her knight. Who would be silly enough to risk their life for her?

"I'll do it"

Hikari whipped around to see Riku step forward. His face looked serious as he faced Yen Sid.

"I'll be her knight. I'll keep her safe" he said.

Hikari quickly went up to him and grabbed his arms.

"Don't be silly" she said.

"You don't need to throw your life away. I can take care of myself, I swear"

Riku looked at her and gave her a gentle smile.

"I made a promise to myself when we were still kids" he said.

"I promised that no matter what, I would keep you safe, even if it meant I got hurt in the end. I don't know what we're facing, but I do know that keeping you out of harm's way is my top priority. I'll keep you safe, I swear"

Hikari looked at him sadly.

"Riku…"

Yen Sid nodded slowly.

"Very well" he said.

"You must make your pledge to your sorceress and vow that you will not allow any harm come to her"

Riku nodded and knelt before Hikari. His hand covered his heart as he looked up at the girl who was his whole world.

"Hikari, I vow to become your knight and keep you out of harm's way" he pledged.

"I swear to give up my life for you so that you can live another day. My body is your shield and my heart is your blade. I vow to keep you by my side and make sure you're safe and sound. And most of all, I will never betray you"

The arm that was covered with a sweat band began to glow as the knight's brand magically etched itself into his skin. When the magic died away, Riku pulled the band off to see that his mark was similar to Hikari's. A red heart stood in the middle of his wrist with wings wrapped around his arms. This was proof that he belonged to Hikari and no one else.

"There you have it" Yen Sid said.

Riku stood up and held his hand out for Hikari to take.

"Let's go save your mom" he said.

Hikari looked at his brand before looking into his eyes. There was so much love and devotion in those blue eyes that it was impossible to see anything else. Riku was serious about keeping her safe and he showed it through his actions.

She smiled gently and accepted his hand.

"Yeah, let's go"

This moment would act as proof to their strong bond with each other and showed that nothing would ever tear them apart.

Now they completed each other.

/

**A/N: this has got to be the longest chapter in the story so far! I hope you guys enjoyed this! I thought it was interesting to talk a little about sorceresses and where they came from. I also changed the story of Hyne so it would match with the story of how the worlds were separated. **

**And for those of you wondering why I didn't give Leon a new weapon was because the Gunblade is such a legendary weapon in the Final Fantasy series and I don't think any other weapon would fit him. Besides, you need a gunblade to take on someone like Utlimecia, right?**

**Aww, Riku was so sweet to become Hikari's knight. I just realized his vow was very similar to the vow Terra made to Lumen. This is further proof that their bond has been passed down to Riku and Hikari!**

**Please tell me what you all think!**

**Ja ne!**


	14. Beast's Castle

Chapter 14: Beast's Castle

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back from playing the game! Now that everyone has new weapons, they get to go off on a hunting spree! And just a heads up, for Beast's castle, the spell hasn't been broken yet so the cut scene at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 hasn't happened yet. But it will! It also looks like Riku has some serious making up to do since he and the Beast didn't clash well when they last saw each other.**

**This is the last chapter that I'll be updating before school starts so it might take a while until the next one is updated. But don't be afraid, I'll still update it, even if it's during class!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone marveled at their new weapons that Yen Sid gave to them. After using the keyblades for so long, it was nice to have the chance to use different weapons.

Hikari was still trying to figure out how her weapon was going to work. Since she had no idea was a Blaster Edge was, she needed to learn how to control it before anything else. She was sure that everyone didn't want their heads chopped off because she couldn't fire the thing.

Riku was enjoying his new weapon as well. With his new machine gun, he could shoot at Leon whenever he felt like being a jerk. But the thing that he was most interested in at the moment was his knight brand.

Ever since he got it, he kept staring at it. He felt like he had grown slightly powerful with the magic infused within it. He didn't know what this brand was for, but as long as it meant he would be protecting Hikari, he didn't care.

"So how are we supposed to find Ultimecia and Akumuko?" Ankoku asked.

"Last I checked, they didn't leave any tracking devices for us to follow"

"We'll just have to wing it" Mickey said.

"The gummi ship can pick up dark ratings that each world gives off. If one of the worlds is filled with darkness, we'll know that something is up and hopefully run into them"

"I guess that's the only plan we can go with at the moment" Tsukiko said.

"Once we figure out how to track them down, we'll just go world hopping"

With that in mind, Mickey steered the Gummi Ship to a hot spot.

Hikari sat next to Riku and examined his brand. She still didn't like the idea of him risking his life for her, but it warmed her heart to know that he loved her that much. She didn't know what this brand would do, but if it would keep Riku by her side, she wasn't complaining.

Riku flexed his arm and watched as the brand moved with his muscles.

"I wonder what this brand does?" he asked.

"I can sense magic within it"

"That's because it's laced with Hikari's magic" Leon said.

The gunblade master had a grim look on his face just thinking about his own brand.

"When a knight forges a bond with a sorceress, that knight is gifted with some of the sorceresses powers" he said.

"It's meant for emergency situations where if the sorceress can't use her magic to protect herself, the knight will be able to. Lots of knights have died trying to gain powers like that. They don't care about protecting the sorceress, they just want to power that they're given"

He gave Riku a murderous glare.

"If you let any harm come to my sister just because you were given new powers I'll kill you with my own hands" he growled.

Riku returned the glare.

"I didn't know about getting powers when I became Hikari's knight. I just want to keep her safe and I don't need to use fancy powers to achieve that"

He held up his arm to show his brand.

"As long as Hikari is with me, no harm will ever come her way. That is my vow to everyone"

Leon's eyes harden. He had heard those words before. He had made a similar vow when he became Taiyouko's knight. It was such a childish promise that it made his sick.

"Don't make promises you can't keep" he said.

"It's not a promise" Riku said.

"It's a vow that I'm willing to live up to"

Leon closed his eyes. Why did this boy always remind him of the one man he hated most?

"You better keep your word then" he said.

"Because if you don't, Utlimecia will be the least of your problems"

Riku gave him an arrogant smirk.

"I've traveled with your mom for over a year" he said.

"You don't scare me"

Leon snorted at the threat.

"You should be"

Hikari sighed and scratched Angelo's head.

"Boys can be so confusing, right Angelo?"

Angelo barked a couple times, showing that he agreed.

/

The first world that Mickey picked up was at Beast's Castle. It had been a long time since Sora and Hikari met their cursed friend that they wondered how he was doing.

"I wonder if the curse was broken?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head, showing she had no idea.

Ankoku gave Riku and nasty smirk when she saw the castle.

"Hey! This is where I first met your sorry ass" she asked.

Riku scowled at the memory. How could he forget running into Hikari's obnoxious nobody? If it wasn't for Taiyouko, he would have wiped the floor with her.

"And I regret that moment ever since" he said.

Ankoku laughed and punched his arm.

"Aw, don't say that" she said.

"If it wasn't for me, Hikari wouldn't be awake right now. You're in my debt now that I think about it"

Riku gave her a sour look.

"You're alive, aren't you?" he asked.

"What more could you want?"

Ankoku thought for a moment.

"Well, you can refer to me as the almighty Ankoku from now on"

"Not happening" Riku said.

"It's bad enough I have to deal with you each day"

"Now you know how I feel about traveling with you on this journey" Leon said.

Riku was about to make a snotty remark before Mickey broke up the fight.

"Alright, that's enough" he said.

"We don't have time for you all to bicker like this. You need to put your differences aside while we try to figure out where Ultimecia is and stop her before she does any harm to the worlds"

He ushered them all together and held out his hand.

"Now shakes hands and make a truce" he said.

"There will be no bickering while I'm around"

Riku, Leon and Ankoku gave each other dirty looks but reluctantly put their hands in the middle to make their truce.

"Temporary truce" they muttered.

"Good now we just need to figure out how we're going to search the castle" Mickey said.

"I'm sure Belle and the Beast will be happy to see us" Hikari said.

"And maybe they'll give us clues as to what's going on around here"

Mickey nodded.

"Alright then" he said.

"While you guys search the castle, I'll be in the Gummi Ship and see how things are going with the group in Radiant Garden. I'm sure they've found things out by now"

He looked at Donald and Goofy.

"You two should join them" he said.

"Hikari isn't the only sorceress in the group. You need to keep Ankoku and Tsukiko safe as well"

Donald and Goofy gave him a salute, showing that they wouldn't fail him.

"Hut!"

Mickey smiled.

"Well then, good luck"

The group wished him luck as well and headed for the castle where Beast and Belle were sure to be.

/

The castle looked just as dark and gloomy as the last time that they were here. It seemed either the curse wasn't broken at all or the Beast really liked everything to be dark.

"Still gloomy looking, huh?" Donald said.

"I wonder where everyone is?"Sora asked.

"I don't see Belle or anyone"

"Help! Somebody help!"

Cogsworth ran down the stairs as fast as his little clock legs would let him. Behind him came Lumiere and Mrs. Potts as they ran from a small group of mini flans that were chasing after them.

"Please help!" Cogsworth cried.

Hikari quickly went into action and fired off her blaster edge, causing the mini flans to fall over. With them knocked over, they were harmless and easy to destroy with a few fire spells.

"So that's how this thing works" Hikari said as she looked at her Blaster Edge.

With the danger gone, the group slowly went over to the servants who were huddled in a corner. When they saw that the danger was gone, they were relieved to see their dear friends.

"Oh, thank goodness it's you" Cogsworth said.

"We thought we were going to be appetizers for those horrid things" Lumiere added.

Sora knelt down in front of them so he could be eye level with them.

"It's good to see you guys, but what's going on?" he asked.

"Why are you still in those forms?"

The servants looked at one another before sadly looking at the ground.

"I'm afraid the curse hasn't been lifted" Cogsworth said.

"Belle and the prince haven't confessed their love for each other so we haven't changed. I'm afraid time is running out and the rose is near its last petal"

"Oh no" Hikari said.

She and Sora explained to the others about the Beast and the curse that was placed on him. It broke their hearts when they heard it. Riku felt horrible about it, just thinking of how he treated the Beast back at Hollow Bastion. All he wanted was to get Belle back and he went and struck him down. He showed that he was the prince at the moment while he was the beast.

"Is there any way that we can break the spell before time runs out?" he asked.

He wanted to atone for how he treated the beast so if breaking the curse would do it, he would do it.

"The master and Belle just have to confess their love for each other" Mrs. Potts said.

"We both know that they love each other, but they just won't say it"

Hikari thought for a moment of what to do. It was obvious that Belle and the Beast cared for each other, but they wouldn't say anything about it.

Maybe they had a reason for it?

"Let's see what's going on" she said.

"They must have a reason why they haven't said anything yet"

She looked at Sora.

"You guys go see what's up with Belle. I'll go talk with Beast"

Sora gave her a skeptical look.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked.

"You know how his temper gets"

Hikari gave him a dark smirk.

"I know and mine is much worse" she said.

Sora shuddered thinking of it and looked at Ankoku, Tsukiko and Donald.

"Let's go see how Belle is doing" he said.

The two girls and duck shrugged as they followed him.

Hikari looked at her brother, Riku and Goofy.

"I guess that leaves us with the Beast" she said.

"Just a heads up, don't comment on his appearance. He's really sensitive about it"

"Oh don't worry, I know all about that" Riku muttered.

"Just don't slap him if he gets angry" Goofy said.

Hikari placed her hands on her hips.

"If he's going to act like a beast, then I'm going to treat him as one" she said.

"That temper of his isn't going to help him out at all"

Cogsworth coughed to get their attention.

"If you will follow me, I'll show you to his chambers" he said.

They followed the tiny clock up to the west wing hoping they could figure out what was going on with their cursed friend.

/

"I have to say, walking around these halls without sneaking around is pretty awesome" Ankoku said.

Sora looked at her as they made their way to the east wing.

"You've been here before?" he asked.

Ankoku nodded as she played around with Chip in her hand.

"I had to come here a few times with Roxas to check this world out" she said.

"The Organization was probably looking for places where they could gather a lot of hearts. It was a pain in the ass, but it was better than staying around with Saix. I swear he must have had his claymore stuffed up his ass or something"

Tsukiko gave her a look.

"Do you really have to swear in front of a little kid-I mean cup?" she asked.

Ankoku snorted.

"What? He's going to be saying these things down the road so I'm giving him a head start. Aren't I chipy?"

Chip laughed as she tickled him.

"You're funny!"

Tsukiko sighed and held onto Lumerie so he could light the way.

"Thanks for giving us a little light" she said.

"This hallway is pretty dark"

"Anything for a beautiful lady such as yourself" Lumerie replied.

Tsukiko laughed weakly.

"Sorry, but I'm already with someone" she said.

She touched her moon necklace as she felt Axel's flames grow warm within her heart.

"Even though he's not here right now, he's always with me" she said.

"_And you always will be"_

They reached Belle's bedroom near the end of the hallway.

Donald stood in front of the door to open it.

"Don't try to break the door again" Sora said.

Donald gave him a nasty look and just pushed the doors open.

"Hello?" he called out.

"Anybody here?"

Belle slowly approached the door and smiled when she saw her friends.

"Sora! Donald!" she cried.

She went over to them and gave them a hug.

"I didn't expect to see you here so soon"

She looked at Ankoku and Tsukiko.

"Oh? Are these friends of yours?" she asked.

Sora nodded and introduced them.

"This is Ankoku and Tsukiko. They're traveling with us" he explained.

The nobodies said their hellos and looked around the room.

"So what's the deal with this place?" Ankoku asked.

"We heard from Cogsworth and the others that the-"

Tsukiko covered her mouth before she could blurt out that it was Belle's fault that the spell wasn't broken.

"What she's trying to say is that we ran into a couple of Fiends when we came here and were wondering the reason for that" she said.

That was the main reason why they were here so they were going to kill two birds with one stone.

"Has anything strange happened recently around here?" Sora asked.

"Have you seen any strange looking people walking around the castle?"

Belle thought for a moment.

"Well, now that you mention it, I've been seeing a lot of strange creatures running around. I don't think they're heartless but I know they're dangerous" she said.

"The Beast has had me stay up in my room while he's dealt with it. He's been fighting them for a while now and they just keep appearing"

"The master does care about your safety" The Wardrobe said.

Belle smiled softly at that.

"Yes, he does" she said.

Ankoku wore a sly smirk.

"Sounds like you really care about him" she said.

Belle blushed a little and fiddled with her dress.

"W-well he has been rather kind to me since I've stayed here" she said.

"And he's kept me safe from everything that's been coming here…and he traveled across worlds just to save me"

"Why haven't you said anything to him?"Donald asked.

Belle looked away.

"I don't know if he would like that" she said.

"He treats himself harshly and he would probably think that I was playing a joke on him. 'Who could ever love a beast?' is what he always says now"

Sora rubbed his head. This was harder than they thought. It seemed Belle really did care about the Beast and wanted to show it, but she didn't fearing the Beast would shun her away.

"This is going to be harder than we thought" he muttered.

"I hope Hikari's doing better on her end"

/

Hikari was having just as much luck as Sora was on her end. As they went further into the west wing, they noticed how damaged and destroyed it was.

"Who did all of this?" Leon asked.

Cogsworth laughed nervously.

"The master tends to have a temper" he said.

"He takes it out on the furniture"

Riku looked at the smashed mirrors and torn pictures. It seemed the Beast was so disgusted with his appearance he didn't want to see it at all. It almost reminded him of when he looked like Xehanort's heartless and he always kept his hood up. He was so ashamed of his appearance he felt like nothing would cheer him up.

That is, until Taiyouko said something.

/

"_Riku, why do you have your hood up?"_

_Riku looked at Taiyouko as she approached him and turned away._

"_You know the reason why" he said._

"_I've become the person I was meant to defeat"_

_Taiyouko looked at him sadly and touched his arm._

"_Aw, come on. You don't look that bad" she said._

"_You should see Diz. His face is wrapped up in bandages that you can't even tell what his face looks like"_

_Riku tried to smirk but found it pointless._

"_It doesn't matter" he said._

"_I look like a monster and that's the price I have to pay in order for Sora and Hikari to wake up. I deserve this after all"_

_Taiyouko grew furious and tugged his hood off to reveal his face._

"_Now you listen to me young man" she said._

"_Just because you look different now doesn't mean you're a monster and that you deserved it. You did something very selfless in order for your friend and Hikari to wake up. No one, not even Diz would do something like that. You are a very brave, kind and wonderful boy who is risking his life to protect the people he cares about most. The fact that you changed your looks just proves that you care more about others than you do about yourself"_

_She cupped his face and smiled gently._

"And I don't think you look like a monster" she said.

"_True, you look different but I still remember what you looked like before and I'll keep that image locked within my heart. Whenever I'll see this face, it'll remind me of the brave boy who is trying to save my daughter"_

_Riku closed his eyes and let her words sink in. She didn't care that he looked different or that he may never change back. All she cared about was his actions and they were for. _

_This was one of the reasons why he was lucky to have her with him in his travels._

"_Thank you, Taiyouko" he said._

_Taiyouko smiled._

"_Remember Riku. It's not about outer beauty that's important it's the inner beauty that counts"_

/

"_Taiyouko" _he thought.

He still remembered her kinds words that day when he felt hopeless. If it wasn't for her, he didn't know what he was going to do next. She really became that ray of hope that he was looking for as he tried to wake Sora and Hikari up.

But now that she was captured, it was his turn to become her ray of hope.

"_I promise Hikari and I will find you_" he vowed.

"_And then we'll laugh about this like we always do"_

Cogsworth approached the door where the Beast's room was.

"The master doesn't like visitors lately so you'll have to be careful" he said.

He knocked on the door gently, gaining his master's attention.

"Pardon me, master. But you have guests" the little clock said.

They could hear growling on the other side as the Beast's temper flared.

"I'm not in the mood for company" he growled.

"B-but Master" Cogsworth stuttered.

"It-it's your friends. They came here to see you"

His response was the Beast roaring, causing the doors to shake from the strain.

The little clock freaked out and hid behind Hikari.

"I guess he's not in the mood to see us" Goofy said.

Hikari's gaze harden.

"Oh he better be" she said.

She looked at Riku.

"Riku, break down the door" she said.

Riku held his hands up, showing he didn't want any part of it.

"Hey, I want the Beast to forgive me, but I'm not that desperate" he said.

Hikari huffed then looked at Goofy.

"Then you do it, Goofy"

Goofy just gulped and hid behind his shield.

"I don't think that's a good idea" he said.

Leon rolled his eyes a how childish everyone was.

"Of for crying out loud. I'll do it"

He went up to the door and kicked it off of its hinges. As expected, the beast didn't like that and roared in his face. Leon just scowled and pulled out his gunblade and pointed the tip at the beast's face.

"Don't even think about it furball" he threatened.

The beast calmed down a little but still growled.

Hikari and Goofy came forward so Leon wouldn't have to cause any harm.

"Hey, Beast. It's us" Hikari said.

The Beast looked surprised.

"Hikari?" Goofy?" he asked.

He saw Riku and growled.

"And you" he growled.

"What are you doing here?"

Riku held his hands up showing he didn't mean any harm.

"Easy, I'm not here to fight you" he said.

"I'm here to atone for what I did back at Hollow Bastion and want to help you break the curse that was placed on you"

The Beast growled at that.

"As if you had what it took to help me" he said.

"Besides, it's already too late"

He stormed back into his destroyed room not caring that the others came in.

"You shouldn't talk like that, master" Cogsworth said.

"Yeah, you still have time" Goofy said.

"You still have one petal left"

The Beast growled and he looked at his rose.

"It's not enough" he said.

"I've run out of time. Now I'll be cursed to stay like this forever"

Hikari went up to the beast and patted his arm.

"Come on, don't give up" she said.

"There's still time"

The beast roared in anger.

"No there isn't!" he roared.

"Can't you understand that? I'll be stuck like this way forever!"

Leon went to attack the beast, fearing he was going to harm Hikari but Riku held his hand out.

"She's got this. Trust me" he said.

Hikari blinked a few times at being yelled at then looked at her friend. The beast was huffing from screaming into her face, but he was going to be out of breath in a few seconds.

A dark, scary grin appeared on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

"Oh sure, I understand completely" she said.

"In fact, why don't I show you?"

The guys flinched as they watched their female companion beat the living daylights out of the Beast.

Hikari slapped him hard across the face and crossed her arms.

"If you're going to act like a beast then I'm going to treat you like one" she retorted.

"And you still have time! In order to break the curse you must learn how to love and be loved in return, correct?"

The beast held his face and groaned.

"Yes" he said.

Hikari placed her hands on her hips.

"Then just confess your love to Belle!" she snapped.

"It's obvious that you care about her. You've done everything in your power to keep her safe. So stop acting like a chicken and tell her you love her"

The Beast looked away.

"It's not that simple" he said.

"Yes it is. You're just too afraid to say anything" she said.

"You can fight heartless, take on Xaldin but you won't admit to a girl that you like her? Man up! That curse isn't going to break itself you know"

The beast looked at her and her friends.

"But I don't know how to" he said.

"I don't even know where to begin"

Hikari smiled brightly.

"Don't worry. I have a plan" she said.

/

"We're going to what?" Donald asked.

The group gathered back into the hallway and explained each other's situation. It was obvious that the Beast and Belle cared about each other deeply, but they were afraid to say anything.

Since they couldn't do it themselves, it was up to their friends to do it for them.

"You heard me, we're going to throw a ball" Hikari said.

"How the hell is a ball going to help them out?" Ankoku said.

Hikari smiled.

"Because it'll be romantic" she said.

"They'll have a nice dinner, dance a little and when the moment is right, they confess their love for each other"

"Sounds a lot for something so simple" Leon said.

"Well, time is running out for the Beast" Sora said.

"So I guess it's worth a shot"

Hikari smiled.

"Then it's settled! We'll plan a huge ball for the two of them that it'll be a night they'll never forget"

Lumeire sighed wistfully.

"I can just picture us being human again" he said.

Ankoku sweat dropped.

"Why do I have a feeling everyone's going to start singing?"

/

**A/N: That's because everyone will in the next chapter! I'm going to break up each world into two parts where we see Hikari's half of what's going on and Sora's half. I thought that would be interesting and fair so no one is left out. **

**You just got to love Hikari, even though she's sweet as can be, she won't let the Beast yell at her and will beat the crap out of him. If he's going to act like a beast, he's going to be treated like one.**

**I thought the little flashback that Riku had of Taiyouko was sweet and sad. It just shows how important she is to him and that he's really upset that she was captured. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	15. Human again and dungeon brawl

Chapter 15: Human again and dungeon brawl

**A/N: Yay! We finally made it to the musical portion of the story! I'm going to split this world up where we see what happens with Hikari's team and another chapter with Sora's team. This way it won't be so crowded in one chapter and everyone can have their moment to shine. I'll let you guys decide and go from there. **

**And I also got the lyrics for the song of the internet so if they don't sound right, I apologize.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Lumiere smiled at the thought of becoming human again.

"_I'll be cooking again_

_Be good looking again" _he sang as he stood in between Hikari and Tsukiko.

"_With a mademoiselle on each arm._

_When I'm human again_

_Only human again_

_Poised and polished and gleaming with charm…_

_I'll be courting again_

_Chic and sporting again"_

"_Which should cause several husbands alarmed" _Mrs. Potts sang.

Lumiere laughed.

"_I'll hop down off the shelf _

_And toute suite be myself"_

"_I can't wait to be human again"_ everyone sang.

They rushed off around the castle to make is sparkle for Belle and the Beast's special date.

/

Ankoku grumbled when she was forced to clean Belle's room and clean off her vanity mirror. It would have been easy if it weren't for the enchanted toiletries dancing around the desk.

"_When we're human again_

_Only human again_

_When we're knickknacks and whatnots no more_

_When we're human again_

_Only human again"_

Ankoku glared and tried swatting them with her dust rag.

"Knock it off!" she snapped.

"You're tracking dust all over the place"

She screamed when the wardrobe suddenly crushed her as she leaned on the table.

"_Oh cheri, won't it all be top-drawer" _

Ankoku shoved her off before she could crush her entirely.

"Get off me!"

The wardrobe didn't pay attention and continued to sing.

"_I'll wear lipstick and rouge_

_And I won't be so huge, _

_Why, I'll easily fit through that door"_

She wrapped herself around the curtains as she was lost in thought.

"_I'll exude savior-faire_

_I'll wear gowns, _

_I'll have hair, _

_It's my prayer to be human again"_

She pulled away, taking parts of the wall with her.

Ankoku smacked her forehead with her hand as she groaned.

"Great, now I need to plaster that"

/

Out near the barns, Sora and Tsukiko were helping Cogsworth and. They removed the old hay and put in fresh hay while the little clock instructed them.

"_When we're human again,_

_Only human again,_

_When the world once more starts making sense"_

"_I'll unwind for a change" _Cogsworth sang.

"Oh really? What would be strange" Tsukiko joked.

"_Can I help it if I'm tense?" _Cogsworth asked.

"_In a shack by the sea_

_I'll sit back sipping tea_

_Let my early retirement commence,_

_Far from fools made of wax, _

_I'll get down to brass tacks and RELAX!" _

He yelped the last part as Sora accidentally bumped into him and had him fall into a bucket filled with water.

"Oh, sorry" he said.

Cogsworth spit out the water and gave him a dull look.

"You're just as bad as Lumiere sometimes"

/

Riku and Hikari helped Mrs. Potts as they cleaned up the Beast's room. That pretty much meant tear down the destroyed stuff and replace it with new things.

"How can someone live like this?" Riku asked.

Hikari shrugged as she swept up bits of broken mirror.

"_So sweep the dust from the floor,_

_Let's let some light in the room,_

_I can feel, _

_I can tell, _

_Someone might break the spell now any day now"_

Angelo ran around the room carrying towels on his back and giving them a fresh one when they needed it to clean something.

"_Shine up the brass on the door,_

_Alert the dustpail and broom,_

_If all goes as planned _

_Our time may be at hand any day now"_

Hikari opened the double doors that lead to the balcony to let in some fresh air.

"_Open the shutters and let in some air"_

"_Put these here and put those over there" _Mrs. Potts sang.

Riku swept up the dust that accumulated in the room into a pile and brought it towards the balcony.

"_Sweep up the years _

_Of sadness and tears _

_And throw them away"_

When he swept the dust from the balcony, he failed to notice that Leon was a few floors down and attending to washing the windows. When the dust hit him, he was completely covered from head to toe.

"Hey!" he yelled.

He looked up to see Riku near the ledge and knew it was him who did it.

"Opps" Riku said dully.

He went back inside to help Hikari fix Beast's bed.

Leon growled and scrubbed at the windows really hard to the point that they almost cracked.

"Stupid little prick" he snarled.

/

Everyone gathered in the ballroom when they finished with everything else. Since it was such a big area, they needed to work together to get it all cleaned up.

They all got their mops and cleaned at their sections while the servants continued to sing.

"_When we're human again_

_Only human again_

_When the girl finally sets us all free_

_Cheeks a-blooming again_

_We're assuming again_

_We're resume our long lost joie de vie_

_We'll be playing again_

_Holidaying again_

_And we're praying it's A.S.A.P_

_We will push _

_We will shove_

_They will both fall in love_

_And we'll finally be human again"_

As they were singing, Angelo sniffed around the room, studying it like any dog would. When he came across an orange pillow, he failed to realize that it was actually at cat that was under the spell. The cat yelped when it saw Angelo and ran off. And like any dog, Angelo ran after the cat and chased it throughout the ballroom, leaving dirty footprints on the nice clean floor that everyone was working on.

"Angelo!" Hikari cried.

Ankoku swatted her broom at the dog and shooed it out of the room while poor Angelo yelped.

"Great, now we have to clean this all up again" she said.

"Don't worry, dear. Why don't we take a break from this?" Mrs. Potts said.

"I think Donald and Goofy might need help with tending to outside" Sora said.

The backdoors to the ballroom opened as they went outside to see Donald and Goofy attending to the gardens.

Donald was trying to instruct everyone where to go and got ran over by Goofy as he carried a wheel barrel filled with plants.

Sora laughed at the scene while Hikari helped Donald up and joined him with instructing everyone what to do.

Everyone either took care of the gardens or fixed the fountains so that they could shoot out water again.

"_We'll be dancing again,_

_We'll be twirling again,_

_We'll be whirling around with such ease,_

_We'll be human again_

_Only human again_

_We'll be waltzing those old one-two-threes,_

_We'll be floating again,_

_We'll be gliding again, _

_Stepping, striding as fine as you please"_

Leon managed to get the fountains fixed and turned them on for the first time in years. Water sprung fourth as if it were good as new and made the castle look normal again.

"_Like a real human does, _

_I'll be all that I was"_

Everyone slide across in front of the fountain as they got caught up in the singing.

"_On that glorious morn, _

_When we're finally reborn._

_And we're all of us human"_

The wardrobe opened Belle's doors wearing a bathing suit and stood near the ledge.

"_Again~!" _she sang.

She jumped off and went to do a cannon ball in the fountain.

Everyone screamed and tried to get away while Donald and Goofy crashed into each other. When the wardrobe landed, water spilled all over the place and got everyone drenched.

"Stupid musical" Ankoku spat.

Everyone groaned as they tried to dry themselves off. Angelo shook his fur on Donald and Goofy, getting a negative reaction out of them.

"Well, this place is a total mess now" Riku said, indicating the now trashed fountain.

The wardrobe laughed nervously as she got out and quickly went back inside.

"At least the fountain isn't damaged. All we need to do is clean up all the water that was splashed everywhere" Hikari said.

"We should have a few extra buckets and mops down in the dungeons" Cogsworth said.

"Ok, that should work" Hikari said.

She bent down and lifted the little clock up.

"Just lead the way"

"You're not going down in a dungeon all by yourself, are you?" Leon asked.

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Oh, relax you" she said.

"I've been down there before. It's completely safe"

"Yeah, well I don't want you going anywhere by yourself when there's fiends and Ultimecia running around" Leon said.

"I'll go with you"

Hikari shook her head.

"You need to clean this mess up and fix the fountain again" she said.

"I'll just bring Riku with me"

Riku went to step forward to follow Hikari, but Leon stopped him in his tracks.

"Not so fast, punk" he said.

"If I stay here, then so do you. Goofy will go with her"

Riku sent Leon a nasty glare while Goofy went up to Hikari.

"Just like old times, huh?" he said.

Hikari smiled and nodded.

"Yep. Now let's go find those mops so we can clean this up before Belle and the Beast notice"

They left the everyone to get the supplies.

Riku and Leon had a glare match going as they cleaned the fountain.

/

"You would think that after being down in the dungeons before, that we wouldn't get lost" Hikari said.

"And yet I have no idea where we are"

"That's alright" Cogsworth said.

"The dungeons were made to be confusing so intruders would have a hard time getting out. The master didn't want thieves trying to steal his rose"

"Garwsh, I wonder if anyone has really tried to steal the rose?" Goofy asked.

Hikari thought for a moment.

"Aside from Xaldin, I can't think of anyone who would want a magical rose" she said.

"Unless you count the enchantress who placed the spell on the Beast"

Cogsworth looked at the ground sadly.

"If only the master didn't have such a cruel heart back then" he said.

"Then none of us would end up like this"

Hikari smiled and patted his head.

"Aw, cheer up" she said.

"True, you all turned into household items, but if the Beast didn't have the curse placed on him, he would still be cruel and he wouldn't have meet Belle. You have to be grateful for something at least"

Cogsworth looked up at her.

"You do have a point, dear" he said.

"Thank you"

Hikari smiled and placed her hands behind her head.

"Hey, I'm a sorceress of light. My job is to bring peace everywhere I go"

"And you do a great job, Hikari" Goofy said.

As they were talking, Angelo sniffed around the area so he could memorize the dungeons. His nose caught a strange scent that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It smelled dark and vile. It was like the positive energy in the area was gone.

Someone was here.

Lowering his ears, he growled as he followed the scent. Whoever was down here was not going to get away from him.

Hikari wondered why her pet was suddenly acting strange and followed him.

"Angelo? What's wrong boy?"

Angelo snarled as he followed the negative energy around one of the corners in the dungeon. When he spotted the intruder, he was snarling as he went into a defensive mode.

Hikari started to panic and quickly rushed over to him.

Had he found a fiend that was hiding within the dungeons?

She spotted what Angelo was snarling at and paled.

Oh no, it was much worse. Very much worse.

Ultimecia laughed as she watched Angelo snarling at her.

"What an impressive hound you have there" she said.

"It's very hard to someone to sense my presence. You must have a very powerful pet"

Hikari gulped nervously. She didn't expect to run into Ultimecia so suddenly. But then again, the sooner that she found her, the sooner she could defeat her. If she could defeat her here and now, they wouldn't have to worry about her destroying other worlds.

With that in mind, she activated her blaster edge and aimed it at her.

"Oh, you even got a little new toy" Ultimecia cooed.

"You silly, girl. Do you honestly think that such a puny weapon will stop me?"

Hikari's eyes harden.

"No" she said.

She aimed the blaster edge to the chain that held one of the light fixtures up and fired her weapon. The winged disk hit the chain and caused the fixture to land on top of Ultimecia.

"But that should" Hikari said.

Ultimecia blast the fixture to smithereens. It was hard to tell if she was glaring since she still wore her mask, but the negative energy she was giving off was a dead giveaway.

"You little gremlin" she hissed.

Hikari quickly picked up Cogsworth and ran in the opposite direction. She couldn't let the poor little clock get caught in the cross fires. Ultimecia looked like she didn't care who was in the way. If they were going to be in her way, she would destroy them.

She placed Cogsworth by the steps leading to the main floor and pushed him forward.

"Run while I take care of her" she said.

Cogsworth looked worried.

"Surely you don't plan to fight her all on your own, do you?" he asked.

Hikari smiled gently and summoned her keyblade.

"I'll take care of this" she said.

"Now run before she finds you"

Cogsworth looked at her sadly then quickly went up the steps.

Hikari looked at Goofy with a serious face.

"Let's do this" she said.

Goofy nodded and held his shield up.

They ran away from the entrance so Ultimecia wouldn't find the others. They couldn't let her get to Belle or the Beast.

When they reached the middle of the dungeons, they found Ultimecia waiting for them.

"You let the little clock get away so he couldn't get hurt?" she taunted.

"How admirable of you, however it was pointless since I'm going to destroy them once I'm done with you"

Hikari had her weapons at the ready as she faced the dangerous sorceress.

"I won't give in that easily"

Ultimecia smirked and went into her own stance.

"Shall we dance?"

/

"I don't see why you couldn't let me go with Hikari into the dungeons" Riku said.

"Isn't that the whole purpose of being a knight? To make sure nothing happens to her?"

Leon just worked on the pipe system that connected to the fountains.

"Just because Hikari let you be her knight doesn't mean that I will" he said.

"I still want you to stay away from her"

Riku slammed the rag he was using down and crossed his arms. Leon was really being childish with the over protective brother skit. Just because he wanted to keep Hikari safe didn't mean he had to keep her main source of protection away from her.

"You know, I've been trying really hard to win your approval but you just won't give me a chance" he said.

"Why can't you just accept the fact that your sister has a boyfriend and that she's actually happy?"

Leon stopped what he was doing and glared at him.

"Because I don't like people who sided with the darkness" he said.

Riku paled slightly. So he knew about his time with Maleficent then.

Leon went back to his work.

"That's right, I know all about your little stunt with Maleficent" he said.

"Sora doesn't know when to shut up sometimes. But then again, maybe it's good that he told me this information. He claimed that he wanted to show me that you know firsthand what the darkness can do to a person; that you've changed and are a good guy now. But I don't by any of that nonsense at all. Anyone who sided with Maleficent or Ansem is an enemy to me"

He looked at Riku and gave his a nasty glare.

"Try as much as you want with getting me to like you, it won't work" he said.

"You hurt Hikari once. Hurt her again and I can promise you that I will enjoy making you suffer. Do I make myself clear?"

Riku's hands curled into fists. So Leon thought he was the enemy? Fine, let him think that way. If he was going to be stubborn about it, then he would just have to show him that he wasn't on the bad side and was in fact his ally.

He went to go back with cleaning the fountain when his arm started to burn.

Groaning in pain, he pulled his arm band off to reveal his knight brand glowing very brightly. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it.

"What's happening?" he groaned.

Leon saw the brand glowing and went bug eyed.

"Oh no"

"Help! Somebody help!" Cogsworth cried.

He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him to the fountain where he found Leon and Riku. He panted as he caught his breath.

" You must help" he pleaded.

"Hikari is fighting someone down in the dungeons" he said.

Both of them were alert.

"Who is she fighting?" Leon asked.

Cogsworth shook his head.

"I don't know, it was a woman but her face was hidden" he said.

"Ultimecia is here" Riku said.

They ran past the little clock and headed to where Hikari was fighting in the dungeons.

Cogsworth ran after them, but wasn't running fast enough.

"Wait for me!" he cried.

/

Hikari hid behind a wall as Ultimecia shots chunks of ice at her. The dark crystals embedded into the walls and looked to be fatal if they had struck Hikari and Goofy down.

Goofy looked over his shield to see Ultimecia getting closer.

"I don't think we're going to defeat her if we keep hiding behind everything" Goofy said.

Hikari fixed the blaster edge that was back on her arm and looked over her shoulder.

"I know Goofy, but I'm waiting for the right opening to attack" she said.

"But I need a diversion"

Angelo wagged his tail, when he realized he could be useful to his master.

Dashing out of his hiding spot, he face Ultimecia and growled at her.

"Oh? Does the little doggie think he can defeat me?" she cooed.

"How cute"

Angelo lowered on his haunches and went into action. He ran at her while blasting out fire from his mouth. Ultimecia threw up a shield with an arrogant smirk on her lips.

"Those little magic tricks won't work on me, dog" she said.

Angelo ran around her firing off different spells as they bounced off of her shield. He really didn't care at this point. All he wanted was to make sure Ultimecia didn't see Hikari sneaking up behind her.

The keyblade mistress charged forward when Ultimecia had her back turned towards her and aimed her blaster edge at her.

"This thing better work" she whispered.

She fired it off and watched at the winged disk flew at her. Without even looking behind her, Ultimecia threw up a shield and had the disk bounce off of it.

"You think little toys will take me down?"

She turned around to face her.

"You may be a sorceress, but you're weak compared to me. You don't even know the unlimited power you hold within yourself"

Hikari glared at her and held her keyblade up.

"That may be true. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up and run away" she said.

"And the only way that I can become stronger is if I face people like you and stop you from harming other people. You may be from the future, but that doesn't mean you can be in mine"

Ultimecia laughed.

"Such petty words from such a little girl" she said.

She held a clawed hand up and created a dark crystal.

"I'll show you the true meaning of what a sorceress should be"

"Not so fast!"

Ultimecia jumped out of the way when a jet of energy came at her and cut right into the stone.

Riku and Leon had their weapons at the ready as they faced the evil sorceress.

"You're not getting away, Ultimecia" Leon said.

"Tell us what you're doing and where you're keeping Taiyouko" Riku ordered.

Ultimecia just laughed.

"Like I would listen to mere insects like you"

Leon held his gunblade up to his face and let the blade glow.

"Hey, idiot" he called to Riku.

Riku gave him an annoyed look but showed he was listening.

"Let me show you how a sorceress knight is supposed to fight" Leon said.

Ultimecia laughed at him mockingly.

"Of course, show them what happens when I knight fails to protect his sorceress"

Leon glared at Ultimecia and removed the glove that covered his marking. Like Riku's the lion's head glowed as the magic within it channeled throughout his whole being. With his gunblade at hand, he swung it high before slamming it down.

"Blasting zone!"

A pillar of energy came out from the blade and headed towards where Ultimecia was. The sorceress simply held her hand up and produced a barrier that blocked the attack.

Leon wasn't finished and ran at her, when he got close he spun really quick and created a shockwave.

"Fated circle!"

Ultimecia simply dodged all of his attacks, letting the dungeon take the damage.

"Is this the knight that swore to protect Taiyouko?" she asked.

"It's no wonder your mother suffered so greatly"

Leon's hands tighten around his gunblade as he ground his teeth in anger. That did it for him. Nobody insulted his mother and got away with it.

"You asked for it" he growled.

His gunblade glowed as he poured all of his magic into the enchanted blade. Holding it up to his face, he prepared his ultimate move.

"Lion heart"

He charged at Ultimecia, and struck her nineteen times, each hit causing an explosion. When the dust cleared, Leon checked to see how badly Ultimecia was injured, only to find her not there.

"What?!"

A clawed hand grazed against his throat as Ultimecia pressed her lips to his ear.

"You're too slow" she said.

Leon quickly jumped out of the way and made sure he was a few feet away from her.

Ultimecia placed her hand under her chin.

"You're a lot stronger since the last time that I saw you" she admitted.

"But I'm afraid you won't be able to defeat me. If your mother couldn't then what makes you think that you can?"

A barrier quickly formed behind her when a barrage of bullets flew at her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Riku had his machine gun out with the barrel smoking. The boy's aqua blue eyes were dark with hatred.

"Don't you ever insult Taiyouko" he said.

"She's a lot stronger than you'll ever be"

Ultimecia just laughed.

"Oh, if only you knew boy"

Riku loaded another round of bullets into his gun and undid the safety. It felled weird and terrifying to wield such a dangerous weapon. He never held a gun before and had no idea how to use it. He didn't even know if he could actually kill someone. He was trying to atone for his sins and he knew killing someone wasn't part of it.

But he swore that he would keep Hikari safe no matter what. That was a promise he made to Taiyouko and Yen Sid. No one was going to tear her away from him, not even a dangerous sorceress.

He looked at Leon who was ready to attack again. He had to admit, he had some powerful moves. If they could work together, then maybe they would have a shot of beating Ultimecia.

"Leon" he said.

"How about we set aside our differences for the time being and get rid of this sorceress together. I have a plan"

Leon smirked darkly.

"I guess we can have a temporary truce" he said.

Riku smiled darkly as well.

"Then follow my lead"

He fired off a round of bullets, making sure Ultimecia was paying attention to him. With her blocking the bullets, she wouldn't be able to dodge Leon as he attacked. Leon performed blasting zone but was rewarded with Ultimecia blocking that as well.

"Two against one is no different to me" she said.

Riku wouldn't give up and ran at her.

Ultimecia fired off dark crystals at him, but he just blocked him with his dark shield. She wasn't the only one who knew defensive magic.

When he got close, he summoned his keyblade and swung it at her. She simply caught it with her hand and smirked underneath her mask.

"Your little key won't work on me, boy" she said.

Leon appeared behind her and swung his gunblade at her.

"This will!"

Ultimecia jumped out of the way and scowled when they teamed up together.

Hikari watched as her brother and boyfriend teamed up against Ultimecia. She was amazed with how well they teamed up together and how precise their attacks her. It made her realize that she still needed to improve on her fighting skills. She couldn't rely on just her keyblade anymore. She had another weapon to use.

She suddenly remembered what Yen Sid said about her Blaster Edge.

She could combine it with her keyblade to make it even more powerful.

She looked at her weapons. If they could merge together perfectly, then maybe she had a shot of hitting Ultimecia.

Bringing her weapons together, she merged them into a powerful one.

When the weapons merged together, they created a giant crossbow. The bow took the shape of her Blaster Edge and had angel wings everywhere while the arrows looked like mini versions of her keyblade.

"Wow" she breathed.

She looked at Ultimecia again and notched an arrow into the bow. She never did archery before, but her mother did. If she was her mother's child, she would be able to do it too.

Letting the arrow go, she sent the tiny keyblade flying through the air and pinned itself into Ultimecia's dress. The sorceress hissed when the arrow nicked at her skin and caused her to bleed.

She looked at where Hikari was, and scowled.

"Of course you would fight like your mother" she hissed.

Hikari notched another arrow into the bow and glared at Ultimecia.

"Now we'll see who's weak" she said.

She fired off arrow after arrow at the evil sorceress and they would hit each time. Ultimecia growled when she kept backing away. How could this little girl suddenly get the upper hand?

Hikari notched three arrows into her bow and shot them into the air.

"Heavenly rain!"

The arrows came raining down on her, hitting her in various places. One arrow managed the break off a section of her hair ornament off and let a single lock of brown hair loose.

Leon noticed it and felt his brows frown.

"What?"

Ultimecia breathed heavily as she looked at Hikari. The young sorceress aimed another arrow at her, ready to fire when needed.

Ultimecia laughed darkly as she shook her head.

"You really are full of surprises" she said.

"That's good"

She stood up fully and looked at the three heroes of light. They all had their weapons ready for another round.

The sorceress shook her head.

"It appears I'm at a disadvantage at the moment" she said.

"We'll have to continue this another time when the fates appear to be on my side"

She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a burst of black flames.

Hikari and Riku lowered their weapons when they sensed her presence vanish.

"Did you beat her?" Goofy asked.

Riku shook his head.

"Not even" he said.

"She was toying with us. She wanted to see how we fought so she can beat us next time"

"We won't let her win that easily" Hikari said.

"If we travel more, we'll learn a few tricks that not even she can figure out. We can handle her"

Cogsworth finally made it down to the dungeons out of breath.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all safe" he panted.

"I was afraid that strange woman was going to hurt you"

Hikari smiled and knelt next to the clock.

"Aw, were you worried about us, Cogsworth?" she asked.

The clock nodded as he tried to get his breath back.

"Why of course I was" he said.

"You're companions of the Master and Belle. That means you're companions to the others and myself"

Hikari realized that Ankoku and the others were still upstairs and were probably unaware of what happened in the dungeons.

"We need to tell the others what happened here" she said.

Riku nodded.

"Let's go before Ultimecia decides to come back"

Angelo allowed Cogsworth to ride on his back so he wouldn't have to run back upstairs again as they left the dungeon.

Leon faced where Ultimecia stood before she vanished.

"_Her hair" _he thought.

"_It was never brown…it was white. Why did it suddenly change color?"_

He thought back on the last time that he saw Ultimecia and cringed at the memory.

"_Could she have possibly…"_

He shook his head at the thought, not wanting to believe what his heart already knew.

"_No, there's no way she could win that easily. She's not as strong as she was back then"_

He followed after Hikari and Riku. Memories of a past that he wished never happened played in his head.

Memories that Hikari was best left forgetting.

/

"Ankoku is going to be so mad when she hears we had a huge battle without her" Hikari said.

Riku rolled his eyes at the mention of the annoying nobody.

"She'll get over it. She can't fight every single battle that we have"

"She's probably not happy that she has to clean" Goofy said.

"I know Donald isn't"

Hikari just laughed.

"Oh please. I'm sure they can handle a little spring cleaning"

She opened the doors leading to the ballroom and was rewarded with a horrific sight. Instead of it being super clean, it was super messy. The walls and pillars had cracks and debris everywhere as if an earthquake swept through the room. Hikari also could have sworn she saw some pillars on fire.

Looking around, she found Sora, Ankoku, Donald and Tsukiko all banged up and dirty from some mysterious brawl.

"W-What in the world happened here?!" Hikari cried.

Sora laughed nervously as he placed his hands behind his head.

"It's kind of a long story"

/

**A/N: And it's so long that it's going to be in the next chapter! I hoped you guys like the little brawl that Hikari had with Ultimecia. I thought it was fun to write and have 'Squall's' limit breaks make an appearance. **

**It also seems Leon has figured someone out about Ultimecia. But what could it be?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	16. Battle in the Ballroom

Chapter 16: Battle in the Ballroom

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm in a really good mood since I just finished Kingdom Hearts 3d! It was so good and now I can't wait for Kingdom Hearts 3 to come out. But in the meantime, I'll just catch up with my story and work my way up to 3d!**

**Now we get to see how Ankoku's side of the group was fairing while Hikari fought with Ultimecia. **

**Knowing Ankoku, it's not going to be pretty.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

After the wardrobe trashed the fountain, Mrs. Potts decided it was time to clean up the ballroom again. While Leon and Riku were busy fixing the fountain, Ankoku, Sora, Donald and Tsukiko were tasked with cleaning up the ballroom.

"If that mangy mutt Hikari calls a pet run through here again, I'm gonna skin it" Ankoku said.

"Oh come on, it was an accident" Sora said.

Ankoku gave him a nasty look and growled.

"I hate cleaning and I'm in a bad mood since everyone decided to do a little musical while they cleaned. Who does that anyway?"

Tsukiko just threw a sponge at her and handed her a bucket.

"Suck it up you. You're not the only one who has to clean this place up" she said.

"Now be a good girl and do as your told"

Ankoku grumbled and got on her hands and knees to scrub.

"If I wanted to be ordered around, I would have stayed with the Organization" she said.

Donald just groaned as he helped her clean. And he thought Hikari got annoying at times.

"What's her problem?" Sora asked.

Tsukiko shook her head as she scrubbed the floor.

"She's still getting used to the fact that she has a heart" she said.

"She doesn't know how to control her emotions like you would so she's learning as she goes. I know it was hard for me when I started learning how to deal with my emotions"

Sora remembered that Tsukiko was really a nobody like Ankoku and that she had a heart.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that you're Taiyouko's nobody. You really act like you're a regular person with the way that you act"

Tsukiko smirked fondly.

"I've had years of practice" she said.

"And of course Axel"

Ankoku looked up from her work to see her best friend. Everyone in the group knew that talking about Axel in front of Tsukiko was off limits. She was still upset about what happened to him and would still cry every now and then.

The fact that she was talking about him now struck her odd.

"How was Axel able to help you?" she asked.

"He was a nobody like Roxas and I. He couldn't feel anything"

Tsukiko smiled weakly as she looked at the ground. It seemed that even after a couple of months she still couldn't stop herself from feeling sad.

"He may have not been able to feel emotions like people with hearts" she admitted.

"But he could still remember what they felt like. He helped me understand what I was feeling and what they meant. In a way, he was channeling his feelings through me and became a normal person when we were together"

Her bangs covered her eyes as tears hit the polished floor.

"I miss him so much" she said weakly.

Sora placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm sure he knew what he was putting himself through that day" he said.

"Why else would he do it?"

Tsukiko nodded and smiled weakly.

"He always acted recklessly" she admitted.

"But that's what I loved about him so much. I never knew what I was going to expect when I was with him"

"How did you two meet anyway?" Donald asked.

He was getting tired of being the only one cleaning so he took a break as well.

Tsukiko blushed as she recalled the memory.

"Well, it wasn't really one of the best ways of meeting someone" she admitted.

"But it all started when I was going home after a fight with Seifer"

/

_(Flashback)_

_Tsukiko swore under her breath as she stormed home. Seifer really did it this time by trying to grope her while Hayner was competing with him in Struggle. _

_Why couldn't that idiot realize that she was not into him and that he needed to keep his hands to himself? _

"_All of the guys here think with their heads in the gutter" she spat. _

"_Stupid Seifer. Stupid men. Why are all of the guys idiots around here?"_

_She sighed as she shook her head._

"_At this rate, I'm going to stay single forever"_

_She stuffed her hands into her pockets and headed home. It was getting late and she didn't want to be out in the streets at night. _

_Creepy things happened at night._

_As she passed an alleyway, a set of heartless emerged from the darkness. They slithered across the ground as they followed Tsukiko. _

_Tsukiko heard this hissing noises and turned around to see the heartless following her._

"_What the?"_

_She broke into a run to get away from the heartless, but they just chased after her. _

_She ran through the backstreets to try to get them lost, but they just stuck to her like a shadow. She reached a dead end where there was nowhere else to go. _

_Turning around, she saw the heartless closing in on her. Knowing she had no other choice, she went into a fighting stance and prepared herself to fight her way through. _

"_Don't mess with me you little creeps" she hissed. _

_The heartless lunged at her but were spike to the ground by a set of chakrams. The vile creatures were soon set on fire before they burnt to ashes. _

_With the heartless gone, Tsukiko lowered her stance slightly, wondering who saved her._

"_That was pretty bold of you, but reckless" someone said._

_A cloaked figure jumped from the building it was on and went over to the chakrams. _

"_You know what they say: don't bring fists to a gunfight" _

_The figure removed its hood to reveal a man with flaming red hair and bright green eyes. He gave her a cocky smirk as he rest one of his weapons on his shoulder._

_Tsukiko went back into a fighting stance._

"_Easy, hot stuff" the stranger said._

_Tsukiko scowled at the nickname. She hated it when people gave her nicknames._

"_Who are you?" she demanded._

"_I know you're not from around here, otherwise I would have recognized you"_

_The stranger smirked at her._

"_Well, aren't you a smart cookie" he said._

"_The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"_

_Tsukiko gave him a dull look._

"_Nope"_

_She started walking away, leaving Axel stunned._

"_Wait, what?" he asked himself._

_Tsukiko rolled her eyes and looked at him._

"_You're obviously not from around here, so I doubt I'll see you again" she said._

"_It's pointless to remember someone's name when you won't see them again"_

_She started walking away again to head home. _

_Axel quickly ran after her and stood in front of her. _

"_Can I at least know your name?" he asked._

_Tsukiko raised an eyebrow. What was with this creep?_

"_Why? You won't see me again" she said._

_Axel gave her a cocky smirk as he crossed his arms. _

"_There's this thing called manners" he said._

"_When one introduces themselves, the other should do the same. Besides, I saved your life. You owe me at least this much"_

_Tsukiko sighed. This guy was really getting annoying. But then again, he did save her. _

"_If I tell you my name, will you let me go home?" she asked._

_Axel shrugged._

"_If that's what you want, then sure" he said._

_Tsukiko rolled her eyes. What a day she was having. _

"_Tsukiko" she said._

"_My name is Tsukiko" _

_Axel rubbed his chin in thought._

"_Tsukiko, huh? That means 'moon child', right?" _

_Tsukiko nodded._

"_Yep, now if you'll excuse me, I need to head home"_

_She brushed past Axel and left the alley. Axel wore a sneaky smirk as he watched her go. This girl was pretty interesting._

"_I'll be seeing you around, Tsukiko" he said._

_Tsukiko just waved at him without even looking back._

_That one encounter would lead to many more down the road._

_That much Axel was certain._

/

"At first, I didn't expect to see him again, but then the next day I saw him standing outside my apartment with that stupid grin of his and saying 'see? I got to see you for more than just once'" Tsukiko said.

"After that, it would be one visit a day and then it lead to many to the point where we were always together. I never expect someone like him to fall for a girl like me, but he did. He proved that even nobodies are capable of love. You don't need to have a heart to experience a feeling that is so beautiful"

She placed a hand over her heart where she felt Axel's flames growing warm.

"He may be gone, but at least I was lucky enough to create such fond memories with him"

Ankoku looked at Tsukiko sadly. She knew how much Axel meant to her and vice versa. She would never forgive Axel for throwing his existence away so foolishly, but she would be forever grateful that he threw it away just so Tsukiko stayed alive.

"_Thank you, Axel" _she thought.

Sora smiled at Tsukiko.

"You're pretty incredible, you know that?" he said.

"Even though Axel isn't here, you're still living on for him. The fact that you haven't given up shows that you've had complete control over your heart and that you won't let your emotions get in the way of that"

Tsukiko looked at Sora then at her hands.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"We know so" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko smiled a little and chuckled.

"Thanks you guys" she said.

"Hey! We have a floor that needs to be cleaned and I'm not going to be the only one who does it" Donald snapped.

Ankoku rolled her eyes and grabbed her sponge.

"Don't get your tail feathers all knotted bird brain" she said.

"We're cleaning"

They went back to scrubbing the floors and made sure they looked nice for the ball they had planned for Belle and the Beast.

/

"Hey, I just noticed something" Sora said a little while later.

The group looked up from what they were doing to face the keyblade wielder.

"We haven't run into any fiends since we've been here. It's like they haven't been here at all. Don't you find that strange?"

Ankoku tossed her sponge in the bucket and crossed her arms.

"Why are you complaining about it? I thought that would be good? No fighting means no bad guys, right?"

"Well yeah" Sora admitted lamely.

"But after traveling for over a year, not fighting means something bad is going to happen. Right, Donald?"

The mage nodded as he subconsciously held his staff.

"Oh, don't worry, you two" Tsukiko said.

"You're just paranoid. What could possibly go wrong?"

"What indeed"

Everyone whipped around to see Akumuko sitting idly onto of the chandelier in the ballroom. The heartless dully poked at one of the candles that was lit.

"This is a pretty impressive place" she said.

"Although, it's a little too…bright for my taste"

The candles suddenly snuffed out, plunging the ballroom in darkness. The only light that was provided was the light that filtered through the windows.

"It's Akumuko!" Donald cried.

Akumuko laughed, sending chills up everyone's spine.

"Well what do you know? The bird really does have a brain" she cooed.

Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at her counterpart and summoned her bladed brass knuckles.

"What are you doing here, Akumuko?" she ordered.

Akumuko rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh come now, you honestly didn't expect that you wouldn't see me ever again, did you?" she asked.

"You're Mistress Ultimecia's prized possessions. I can't let her pawns simply run off without her knowing, now can I?"

"You mean you're spying on us?" Ankoku asked.

Akumuko twirled a blade within her hand as she hummed.

"Yes and no. I'm busy searching for something" she said.

"There's something in this timeline that Mistress Ultimecia wants, and we're going to find it"

Yen Sid mentioned of Ultimecia searching for something, but what could that possibly be?

"What are you looking for?" Sora asked.

Akumuko laughed like it was such a silly question.

"If I told you, then you would go after it and destroy it" she teased.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise for any of you"

She jumped from the chandelier and floated towards the ground.

"I personally don't know what it is, but I know it's around here somewhere in the timeline" she said.

"Once we get our hands on the object, time will be within our hands"

Tsukiko scowled and went into a fighting stance.

"It looks like you have to do the dirty work for just about anyone you run into, don't you?" she asked.

Akumuko scowled darkly at Tsukiko's threats.

"Laugh all you want, _Tsukiko" _she spat.

"Once Ultimecia becomes the master of time, you'll be groveling at my feet, begging for mercy"

Tsukiko laughed and cracked her neck.

"The only one who will be groveling here, is you" she said.

Akumuko summoned her knives and covered them with darkness.

"We'll see about that"

She flung her knives at her while Tsukiko dodged rolled out of the way. The knives embedded themselves into one of the pillars and started to crumbled from the exposure of dark magic.

Ankoku and Sora summoned their weapons and ran into the fray.

"If we stay away from those blades, we'll be safe" Ankoku said.

"I'll watch out for any sudden changes in her behavior so you don't get caught"

Sora nodded and flung his chained whip at the heartless. Akumuko ducked as the whip reached her head and let it wrap around the pillar she was standing near.

"Little children shouldn't be playing with big toys" she taunted.

"Someone might get hurt"

Sora ignored her and gripped the whip tightly.

"Donald!"

The mage went into action and cast blizzard over the ground, creating a sheet of ice. Sora jumped on the ice and with a simple tug of the whip, went sliding over to Akumuko and went around her, wrapping her around the pillar she was near. The heartless struggled as the whip grew tighter and tighter with each tug.

Sora skidded to a stop in front of her and gave her a smug look.

"What was that about someone getting hurt?" he asked.

Akumuko hissed and summoned her wings to break herself free. She flew up into the air where she was out of reach from everyone and flung knives at them.

Everyone hid behind the pillars as Akumuko kept summoning knives and throwing them to the ground. It was impossible to even move without getting exposed.

"Now what do we do?" Ankoku asked.

She tried to predict what the heartless' next move would be, but she couldn't see anything. It was like she was blocking her mind or didn't think of anything at all.

"If Riku was here, he would be able to deflect them with his dark shield" Sora said.

Tsukiko gripped her moon blades tightly. If defensive couldn't work, then offensive was the key.

Jumping away from the pillar she was hiding, she shot fire out of her fists and aimed them at Akumuko. The heartless flew out of the way as the fire flew past her and laughed.

"Oh, it's looks like little 'Tsuki has learned a new trick" she cackled.

Sora and Ankoku watched as flames licked around Tsukiko's hands.

"That fire…" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko glared at Akumuko and sent a kick at her. As her foot hit the air, flames came out of her foot and aimed for Akumuko. The heartless flew out of the range of fire every time Tsukiko aimed at her.

"When did Tsukiko learn how to control fire?" Ankoku asked.

Sora but his lip.

"It was Axel" he said.

"When he sacrificed himself to save us that one time, he must have given his power up to Tsukiko. It was his way of being able to protect her even when he's gone"

Ankoku watched as her best friend used the fire with her martial arts to attack Akumuko.

"Of course you would do something so reckless…Axel"

Akumuko cursed when the flames managed to nick one of her wings and burned her. She landed on the ground and dismissed her wings so they wouldn't get damaged more than they already were.

"So you ready to really fight me?" Tsukiko asked.

Akumuko growled and summoned her knives.

"Shut up you little, gremlin" she spat.

Tsukiko dismissed her moon blades and summoned her scythe instead.

"This won't kill you, but it'll leave a nasty bruise on you"

She swung her scythe across the ground, ripping the marble floor as she did so. Akumuko summoned a dark shield to protect her from the blast while she sent dark energy at her.

Ankoku studied her movements carefully to see which trick the heartless would pull out her sleeve next. It seemed her mind was starting to clear up and wasn't blocked like before.

"_She must be losing her concentration_ " she thought.

At one point, she saw Akumuko send a dark ball of energy at Tsukiko and secretly concealed a knife within it so it would stab Tsukiko in the chest.

"Look out, Tsukiko! She hid a knife in that blast"

Tsukiko quickly blocked the blade before it could hit her. Akumuko snarled as she looked at Ankoku.

"You little vermin"

Ankoku gave her the stink eye and flipped her off.

"You're not the only sorceress here, bitch" she said.

Sora grabbed his whip and flung it at Akumuko's feet and had it wrap around her. With a slight tug, the heartless was down on the ground. Tsukiko had her blade near her neck in case she tried to pull anything sneaky.

"End of the line, Akumuko" she said.

"It's over"

Akumuko looked at her and gave her a wicked smile.

"Oh, it's actually the beginning"

She disappeared in black flames, leaving the three of them alone.

Donald quickly lit the chandelier and brought light back into the room.

"Where did she go?" Sora asked.

"Probably back to Ultimecia with her tail tucked in between her legs" Ankoku said.

"She was playing with us"

Tsukiko dismissed her scythe when she saw there was no point of using it.

"She was trying to figure out how we fought" she said.

"She wants to make things difficult for us so she'll use any information she can get her hands on"

"And you guys pretty much gave yourselves away" Donald said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"Excuse me? Last time I checked you hardly did anything when she was here. And you helped saved the worlds"

Donald stomped his foot in retaliation.

"I didn't want to give myself away!" he said.

"Yeah right, I bet you were hiding" Ankoku said.

"I'm starting to wonder if you're really a chicken instead of a duck"

Donald yelled at her while Ankoku just laughed.

Sora looked at Tsukiko and gave her a smile.

"That was pretty awesome what you did" he said.

"I've never seen anyone use fire like that"

Tsukiko smiled weakly as she placed a hand over her heart.

"I don't want Axel's memory to be forgotten, so I'll keep it alive as best as I can" she said.

Sora smiled and placed his hands behind his head.

"Well next time, I get to show off my moves" he said.

"You can't hog all of the spotlight"

Tsukiko laughed. That sounded like something Roxas would say.

"Ok"

The doors to the ballroom opened to reveal Hikari, Riku and Leon coming in. They took one look at the area and flipped out.

"W-what in the world happened here?!" Hikari cried.

Sora laughed nervously as he placed his hands behind his head.

"It's kind of a long story" he said.

"Well make it short" Leon snapped.

"We have to fix this place before Belle and the Beast see this"

Each group told their side of what happened to them as they were cleaning the castle. They came to the conclusion that Ultimecia and Akumuko were trying to find something out about them, but what it was, they had no clue.

"What could they be after?" Hikari said.

"Is there something here, that isn't in the future?"

"It has to be" Leon said.

"People don't travel through time just for fun. They're after something and it's probably not good at all"

"Great, things just went from stink to suck" Ankoku groaned.

"Maybe King Mickey found something out while we were here" Goofy said.

"I'm sure we'll find out when we get back to the ship" Sora said.

"Let's just tell everyone that we'll be back in a little while. We don't want Ultimecia or Akumuko to show up while they have their little date"

They left the ballroom when they fixed it to search for their two friends.

"Belle and the Master should be in the library" Cogsworth said.

"The master always likes it when he hears Belle read to him"

Hikari smiled at the thought.

"I'm sure she and my mom would get along just fine" she said.

Riku cracked a smirk as well, knowing how much Taiyouko loved to read.

They went for the library where Belle and the Beast were sitting at a table reading a book.

"For there never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo" Belle finished.

The Beast smiled when she finished reading.

"Could you read another one?" he asked.

Belle simply smiled and went up to retrieve another book.

"Hey guys" Sora said.

"Enjoying a little reading, huh?"

Ankoku rolled her eyes, not really enjoying the thought of reading old fairy tales.

She looked around the library and saw that some of the walls were covered with stain glass pictures that seemed to have told a story of their own.

"What's up with the little slide show on the walls?" she asked.

Cogsworth cleared his throat nervously as he viewed the pictures.

"It-it tells the story of how all of us fell under the curse" he whispered, not wanting Belle to hear.

"It's a reminder to the Master that he needs to find true love before time runs out"

Riku looked at the portrait then at the Beast. It seemed like his mind was wrapped around the fact that he needed to break the curse that was upon him before time ran out. He was letting this curse blind him to what was in front of him and that the only way for him to set himself free is to just be himself.

He needed to look forward instead of backwards.

Picking up a small rock, he chucked it at the portrait and let it shattered into thousands of pieces.

"Riku, what are you doing?!" Hikari cried.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Sora added.

The Beast roared and towered over him.

"How dare you trash my castle as if it was yours!" he growled.

Riku glared at him and stood his ground. He was going to help the Beast, even if it killed him. This was the only way he could atone for his sins.

"Do you want to break this curse on you, yes or no?" he asked.

The Beast stopped growling for a second, but still glared at him.

"Yes" he said.

Riku pointed towards the smashed window.

"Then stop looking into the past and face the future" he said.

"If you want to be human again, you need to picture yourself as one. Looking back at your past mistakes isn't going to change anything. It won't help you, it won't help Cogsworth, it won't help anyone. You need to walk away from your past in order to embrace the future"

The Beast stopped glaring at Riku and soaked up the wisdom he passed on to him. He was right, he needed to stop thinking about his past mistakes and look forward to his future…his future with Belle.

Riku smiled when he saw that he was getting to him.

"I want to make up for what I did to you at Hollow Bastion, and this is the only way I can do it now" he said.

"I suggest you come up with a better portrait so you can make this place more vibrant"

The Beast looked at the now open window.

"I suppose you're right"

Hikari smiled softly as the scene. It seemed that not only was the Beast starting over, but Riku as well. In order for him to undo the wrongs he had committed, he would help those he caused harm.

She hoped and prayed that one day, he too would have a shining future to look forward too.

/

**A/N: And that's the end of part 1 to Beast's castle. Don't worry, they'll be back to see their little date. I think I liked Akumuko's fight better than Ultimecia's for some reason. Maybe it's because she's such an insane character that you can't help but be drawn to her. **

**I also got Tsukiko's fire moves from the Avatar Last Air Bender series. Whenever she's using fire in her martial arts, it's pretty much Fire Bending.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	17. Unexpected Truths

Chapter 17: Unexpected Truths

**A/N: Hey everyone! We're back with another fun filled chapter! And we get to see Laguna again! It'll be exciting as Hikari learns more about her father and all the adventures he's had. I wonder what she'll learn about him this time?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

After the little incidents that they had at Beast's Castle, the gang returned to the ship to report back to King Mickey. The King wasn't happy when he heard that Ultimecia and Akumuko appeared again, but expected as much from them.

"Did they ever say what they were searching for?" he asked.

The all shook their heads.

"No, Your Majesty" Donald and Goofy said.

"Akumuko even said she didn't know what it was they were looking for" Sora admitted.

Mickey crossed his arms as he thought it over.

"Well, it's obvious that they're not after Kingdom Hearts, so that's one less thing to worry about. But what could possibly be here that is just as important as the heart of all worlds?"

Everyone turned to Leon, hoping he might have an idea since he seemed to know a lot more about sorceresses then they did.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin thinking" he said.

"The only person who would probably know is mom, and she's nowhere to be found"

Hikari frowned at the mention that Taiyouko was missing. Leon didn't have to rub it in like that.

Mickey shrugged.

"I tried contacting Cid and the others back at Radiant Garden" he said.

"Apparently Aerith and Kairi found a few books that mentioned about sorceresses and things that relate to them. They'll let us know when they find something"

Sora seemed to brighten at the mention of Kairi. Even though she couldn't participate in their journey, she was doing her best to help them out.

"So until we find a clue, we'll just have to keep hopping between worlds?" Tsukiko asked.

"Looks like it" Riku said.

"We won't find anything by just standing here, waiting for an answer. We need to find them ourselves"

Leon rolled his eyes, thinking Riku acting all serious was stupid.

"We'll figure out what to do next later" Mickey said.

"I'm sure you're all tired from what happened back at Beast's castle. We'll just call it a day and continue tomorrow"

"How can you tell it's nighttime when you're out in space?" Ankoku whispered to Tsukiko.

The nobody just shrugged, showing she was just as lost as her younger friend was.

"Are you sure it's such a good idea to be sleeping in a Gummi ship that is currently out in the middle of space, Your Majesty?" Hikari asked.

"What if we hit something?"

Mickey just smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll handle the driving while all of you sleep. I haven't really done anything so I still have a lot of energy left in me"

Donald and Goofy quickly saluted him.

"We'll take over whenever you feel like resting, Your Majesty" they said.

Hikari stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. Now that the King mentioned it, she was rather tired from all that fighting. Her body was still getting used to fighting again after not doing so for a couple on months.

"I think a little nap sounds like a good idea" she said.

"There's a few rooms in the back for sleeping" Mickey said.

"Make yourself comfortable"

Sluggishly, the group made their way to the rooms to retire for the night(or at least what they thought was night since they were in space).

Riku looked over at Hikari as she slowly made her way to her room. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay with her during the night, knowing Leon would murder him if he was anywhere near his sister.

The least he could do was wish her goodnight.

"Sleep well, Hikari. Just let me know when you need anything"

Hikari was about to respond to that, but of course Leon had to butt in.

"Oh no, she's not going to your room in the middle of the night" he said.

"If she needs something she'll come to me. You just stay in your room, or else"

Riku gave him a nasty look but was too tired to replay. He would get back at him later for this.

Ankoku snickered, enjoying that Riku was getting chewed out. This was her source of entertainment.

/

Hikari hopped into bed when she got into a pair of pajamas. The upside of having magical clothing is that they could change into anything; including pajamas.

Angelo jumped on the bed and made himself comfortable at the edge of the mattress. Since Riku couldn't be with her, she would have to have her dog as company.

"I think I'll get used to having you as a sleeping buddy" she said scratching his ears.

"Maybe now I won't need to use a nightlight anymore"

Angelo licked her face, happy to make his master happy.

Hikari kissed his head and settled into bed. Her body was tired and it needed to recharge.

As her body drifted off to slumberland, her mind traveled towards a past that was not of her own.

/

_Laguna couldn't stop gaping at the sight of Radiant Garden. Out of all the worlds that he traveled to, this one had to be the best so far. _

_Everything was so bright and vibrant. The people looked find a friendly, flowers were blooming in various colors, and the water sparkled brightly within the waterfalls._

_He didn't just step into a new world, he stepped into a dream._

_Haishin chuckled at the sight of his men._

"_Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked._

"_But don't let its beauty fool you. Every rose has its thorns. This place may seem like a dream but it also harbors a sorceress. You have work to do, so don't treat it like it's a vacation, understood?"_

_The soldiers saluted._

"_Yes sir!"_

_Haishin nodded in approval._

"_Good. Now with that said, I suppose I can let you explore before reporting to the castle. Don't do anything stupid and stay alert"_

_The soldiers cleared off and ran in various directions._

_Kiros looked at Laguna and Ward. _

"_I'll see about making reservations at an inn" he said._

_Laguna nodded in understanding. _

"_I'm going to look around and explore a little" he said._

"_Try not to get lost this time" Ward teased._

"_We don't want to form a search team for you again"_

_Laguna pouted and crossed his arms._

"_That only happened once and it was really dark out" he reasoned._

"_Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that" Kiros said. _

_Laguna just huffed. _

"_You guys are no fun" he said._

"_Well, someone has to be the adult in the group and its obviously not you" Kiros stated._

_Laguna just waved at them, acting like it wasn't important. _

"_Whatever. You guys can go be adults while I expand my horizontals"_

_Kiros held the bridge of his nose._

"_It's 'horizons' you idiot" _

_Laguna laughed nervously and rubbed his neck._

"_A-anyway, I'll see you guys later"_

_He ran off in a random direction to go explore this new world._

_Kiros and Ward watched his retreating form with knowing expressions._

"_He's going to get lost, isn't he?" Ward stated._

"_Yep" Kiros replied._

_Ward shook his head._

"_I pity the individuals he'll run into"_

_/ _

"_Now let's see…is this my first time here or my second time?" Laguna asked himself._

_After being separated from his friends for no more than five minutes, Laguna was already lost. He had wandered away from the main marketplace and was now near one of the giant fountains._

_The gunman sighed and scratched his neck._

"_So much for expanding my horizons" he muttered._

"_I don't know where the expand them from. I knew I should have brought a map"_

_Just as he was pitying himself, a little boy ran past him, holding a flower._

"_Mom!"_

_The boy ran up to the fountain where a young woman was sitting by. Laguna watched as the boy gave his mother a white lily with a proud smile on his face._

"_Here, mom. I got you a flower" he said._

"_I know these are your favorite so I looked really hard for it"_

_His mother gave him a heartwarming smile as she tucked the flower in her hair._

"_Aw, you're so sweet Leon" she said._

"_How did I get so lucky for having a son like you?"_

_Leon simply shrugged._

_The woman just giggled and looked up at the sky._

"_It's getting late. I'm sure Uncle Cid will start to worry if we stay out any longer"_

_Leon nodded and took his mother's hand when she offered it._

_When the woman stood up properly, Laguna couldn't help but gape at the sight. _

_The woman had a heart shaped face that was framed with long brown hair that reached the middle of her back. Her face had a rosy hue to it that made her skin seem to glow. Her body hugged a nicely fitted white sundress with a yellow top to it and a pair of white flats. _

_And the part that made her stand out the most were her eyes. They were such a deep shade of green that they made Laguna's eyes look pale. _

_So many thoughts ran through his head as he looked at her, but one thing stood out in his mind:_

_She was breathtaking._

_The woman noticed Laguna was staring at her and couldn't help but blush a little._

"_Oh, hello there" she said._

_Now it was Laguna's turn to blush. He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of this pretty woman. He was afraid that if he said something, his would jumble up his words and say something completely stupid. _

_Heck; he could feel his leg cramping up already._

_Even though he didn't want to say anything he thought it would be rude to not say anything at all._

_Biting the inside of his cheeks, he managed a smile and wave._

"_H-hello" he said._

_The woman smiled and walked up to him. Laguna tried to fight off the leg cramp that was forming by just looking at her._

'_Please don't ruin it. Please don't ruin it' he pleaded in his head._

_The woman offered her hand out to him._

"_I take it you're new around here" she said._

"_I'm Taiyouko and this is my son, Leon"_

_Leon inclined his head but didn't say anything._

_Laguna looked at the outstretched hand before slowly taking it. He felt an electric shock as he felt how soft and warm her hand was. He couldn't help but smile at this woman before him._

_Not only was he able to control his leg cramp, but he was also talking to her._

_It seemed like things were looking up._

"_Nice to meet you, Taiyouko" he said._

"_I'm Laguna Loire, but you can call me Laguna"_

_Taiyouko smiled warmly._

"_It's a pleasure to meet you" she said._

"_And let me be the first to introduce you to Radiant Garden"_

_Laguna just smiled, all the while thinking that the only thing Radiant here was her._

_/_

Hikari shot up when the dream ended, leaving her heart thudding fast within her chest.

After witnessing that memory, she knew that Laguna had to be her father. There was no other possible way. Seeing both her mother and father together, she could tell she looked just like them. She had her mother's features while she had her father's personality. There was no denying that she was their daughter.

She placed a hand over her beating heart as she tried to calm down. She had just seen when her parents first met. Every child wondered how their parents met each other and she was fortunate enough to actually see it. It like something you would see in a movie.

Now she understood why her mother loved the fountains so much and why they held a special meaning to her. It was where she first met Laguna.

It was such a heartwarming scene that made her all giddy on the inside. But there was something about that memory that threw her off.

Why was Leon there?

Surely he shouldn't have been born yet. How else would he be her favorite older brother? It was very strange how Leon was there when her mother met her father. Was it possible that Taiyouko was with someone else before she met Laguna?

Her mind was swirled with confusion. How could she sleep with so many questions plaguing her mind?

The only person who could answer her was none other than her favorite brother.

Jumping out of bed, she dashed out of her room to reach her brothers.

Being mindful of everyone else sleeping, she firmly, but quietly knocked on her brother's door.

"Ni-san. Ni-san!" she whispered loudly.

Leon opened the door where he appeared to be half asleep and had a bed head going. The gunblade master groaned as he tried to keep his eyes open.

"Hikari? What are you doing up?" he said.

Hikari was bouncing on her feet as she tried to contain her emotions.

"I need to talk to you, it's urgent" she said.

Leon stifled a yawn with the back of his hand.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked.

"Yes, I do. But I can't sleep when I have so much on my mind and you're the only person who can help me" Hikari said.

"Please let me in"

Leon groaned and opened his door fully, letting his sister in.

Hikari hopped on his bed and grabbed his pillow so she could hold onto something. She was really nervous about talking to her brother about the memories she was having about Laguna. After seeing him react to Xehanort, she didn't know how he would react to their biological father.

Leon sat next to her and stayed awake, despite being tired.

"So what's going on?" he asked.

"You having nightmares or something?"

Hikari hugged the pillow close to her chest as she thought of her words.

"Not really…at least, I don't think they are" she said.

"Lately…I've been having these dreams, or rather, I've been seeing someone's memories. Someone by the name of Laguna"

Leon was fully awake when he heard that name. He never expected that to come out of his sister's mouth.

"Laguna?" he repeated.

Hikari nodded.

"Yes. Laguna Lorie" she clarified.

Leon's hand flinched, unknowing to Hikari.

"Ever since I went back to the islands, I've been seeing Laguna's memories. I've seen his life as a soldier and with his friends Kiros and Ward. I've noticed that I share similar looks to him as well as the same personality. I don't know why I've suddenly started seeing these memories, but I think maybe it's because he's my real father"

Leon closed his eyes, not wanting to hear what else she might say but also wondering what else she saw.

"Mom mentioned about him before we defeated Xemnas that one time, but I didn't put it all together. But now that I've seen those memories, I can say it's safe to say that he's my dad"

She looked at her brother hopefully.

"Is he really my father, Ni-san? Am I related to Laguna?"

Leon hung his head, covering his face with his hair.

"Yes" he said quietly.

Hikari smiled brightly. She finally knew who her father was. She was so happy knowing that her father was this sweet, kind, caring gentleman who fought for what he believed in.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" she cheered.

"I was so afraid who my father might be, thanks to Xemnas, but now I know there was nothing to worry about"

As she was gushing, Leon slowly stood up and walked towards his dresser. He was happy to see Hikari relieved but he was afraid of what else she might have learned.

Very, very afraid.

"What else have you seen in those memories?" he asked.

"Anything new?"

Hikari calmed down as she thought back about the dream she just had.

"Of course. That's why I came to see you. I just had a dream of when mom and dad first met"

Leon closed his eyes tightly and he ground his teeth together. Out of all of the memories she could have saw, why did she have to see that?

Hikari was oblivious to his reaction and continued on with her tale.

"It was really romantic. They met up at the fountain that mom loves sp much; which I know the reason why now but the weird thing was that you were there" she said.

"I found it rather weird that you would be there when mom and dad met. How would it even be possible for you to be there when they just met each other? How could you be related to dad unless-"

"I wasn't his biological son?" Leon finished.

Hikari stopped smiling when she sensed the sudden change in her brother. He was really upset about something and it was starting to make her worry.

"Ni-san?"

Leon laughed weakly.

"You know…sometimes I wished that you didn't have the ability to see someone memories" he said.

"Some things are best left unseen-especially that memory"

Hikari was starting to get really worried. She never saw her brother act like this way before and she was wondering what was going on.

"Ni-san?" she repeated.

Leon sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair.

"There wasn't anything wrong with that memory you saw. I was really there" he said.

"I'm not Laguna's son…nor am I mom's"

Hikari started to feel dread with what her brother was trying to say. Could it be possible that he…

Leon turned around with a sad, defeated look in his eyes.

"I'm not your real brother"

/

**A/N: Oh boy, did I just leave a nasty plot twist? Why yes I did. I'm cruel aren't I? **

**Leon isn't Laguna's son? How can this be? And better yet, how is he not Hikari's real brother? **

**And to all of you Final Fantasy 8 fans, don't freak out, this was intentional. It's a no brainer that Leon and Laguna are related in that game, but in this game it's all turned around. Remember Ellone? If you do, I'm sure you can figure out what I'm doing here. If not, I'll explain it in the next chapter.**

**Please don't hate me and review!**

**Ja ne!**


	18. Water thicker than blood

Chapter 18: Water thicker than blood

**A/N: I know, I'm so horrible for leaving such a mean cliffhanger and not updating soon, but I've been so crazy with school that I haven't had the time to write. I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long, but school comes first. **

**Now we learn a past about Leon that no one knew about; not even Hikari. This should be an exciting chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

"_I'm not your real brother" _

Those words kept replaying in Hikari's head, yet they wouldn't register. Leon wasn't her real brother? How could that be? Ever since she could remember, Leon was always by her side, acting like the older brother that he was.

How could she not be related to her favorite person in the whole wide world?

"B-but how is that possible?" she asked.

"How can we not be related?"

Leon sadly looked at her. It was so out of character to see the strict gunblade master look so defeated. The fact that he was talking about this with Hikari must have meant that it was really tearing him apart.

"It's simple. I was adopted by Taiyouko before you were born" he said.

"It should have been obvious that we weren't related. I don't even have the same eyes as you and mom"

Leon did have a point. While Hikari and Taiyouko had green eyes, he had blue eyes. Heck, even Laguna had green eyes. Hikari never understood how she couldn't have noticed something like that, but she always figured that was how her brother was.

She watched as Leon sat at the other end of the bed as if fearing of being too close to her. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about this but he knew he couldn't leave it open like this.

He propped his head onto his hands as he sighed.

"I'm sure you want to know how I even became your brother, right?" he asked. He didn't even bother to look at her, already knowing the answer.

Hikari held the pillow in her hands and slowly nodded.

"I do. But if it's too painful to talk about, then you don't need to say anything" she said.

Leon shook his head.

"No. You need to hear this. I never liked keeping things from you"

He ran a hand through his messy hair and slowly begun his tale.

"Long ago on Radiant Garden, there was an accident" he began.

"For some reason, one of the labs in the castle exploded and all the fiends that were being experimented on got loose. They ran around through the town, killing people that they ran into. No one knew how to deal with them so they became nothing more but food for those monsters. I was really young when it happened, but I can still remember it clearly. My real parents hid me behind one of the buildings when they saw a fiend came near them. It tried to get to me but my parents ended up sacrificing themselves to save my life. I was about to become its next meal but someone saved me"

Hikari could only imagine who that was.

"Mom" she breathed.

Leon nodded.

"She managed to defeat that fiend using magic I had never seen before. Magic that only a sorceress could possess. I was afraid of her at first because I didn't know who she was or what she was capable of, but I know for a fact that she wasn't going to let that fiend eat me. When the fiend was gone, she picked me up and took me to the castle to safety. She stayed by my side until all of the fiends were destroyed. When it was safe to go back out into the streets, she was planning on taking me back to my parents, but sadly it didn't turn out that way"

/

_(Flashback)_

_Taiyouko knelt down in front of Leon and offered her hand._

"_It's alright now, the monsters are gone" she said._

"_Let's get you back to your mommy and daddy"_

_Leon felt tears welt up within his eyes, thinking about his parents. They were gone and never coming back._

_He broke down and started crying in front of the lady who saved him. He was lost and confused and didn't know what to do._

_Taiyouko freaked out a little and grabbed his arms._

"_What's wrong?" she asked._

_Leon sniffled as he wiped his eyes._

"_I can't go back to them. They're never coming back" he sobbed._

_Taiyouko didn't need to think hard to know that his parents were killed in the accident. This poor little boy had to suffer because of something her father did. _

_Her heart broke at the thought that this little boy was alone now with no one to take care of him. Unless…there was someone…someone like her._

_Gathering the crying child within her arms, she held him closed and stroked his head._

"_It's going to be ok" she said softly._

"_I'll take care of you. I'll keep you safe. You won't be alone so long as I'm here"_

_Leon just cried and held onto the woman who would take care of him from now on._

/

"She took me in and raised me as her own after that" Leon said.

"A lot of people thought she was crazy because she was really young and they thought she wouldn't know how to take care of a child. But she stuck to her promise and became the mom that you and I both know and love"

He looked at his folded hands sadly, remembering his real parents.

"It's sad to say that I can't even remember what my real parents look like. Whenever I try to picture what my mom looked like, all I see is Taiyouko. In the end, she became my real mom. We weren't related by blood, but the love she gave me was stronger than that"

Hikari placed her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. She was happy that her mom went out of her way to take care of Leon and raised him as her own. She didn't care what others thought of her actions, all she cared about was giving Leon a family.

"Why didn't you want me to know about this?" she asked.

Leon shrugged.

"You were too young to understand that I was your adoptive brother. And I didn't want you to see me any differently" he admitted.

Hikari just laughed.

"Oh, Ni-san"

She hugged tightly and smiled.

"You're still my big brother in every possible way. Just look at Mikomi and Cloud? They're not related and they act like any brother and sister would. Sometimes blood isn't always thicker than water. Sometimes it's just the opposite"

Leon cracked a grin and placed his hand over hers. It seemed he freaked out over nothing and was still Hikari's loveable, protective older brother.

Hikari looked up at him with a hopeful smile.

"So, does that mean you know a lot about dad?" she asked.

Leon's smile fell to replace it with a sour look.

"Unfortunately" he muttered.

Hikari pulled back and jumped in place. Now she was really excited. Sure, Leon wasn't her biological brother, but at least he knew what her biological father was like. He was the key to her answers.

"What's he like? What's he like?" she asked.

Leon thought of the best word that would describe the man who won his mother's heart and gave him a younger sister.

"An idiot" was all he said.

Hikari tilted her head in confusion at her brother's analogy.

"Huh?" she asked.

Leon looked at her dully as he thought more clearly about Laguna.

"He was the biggest idiot that I ever knew" he said.

"He was such a crybaby at times that I wondered if he was really five instead of twenty-three. You could never have a serious conversation with him because he would always avoid it and change the topic. He always messed up his words and make himself look like an idiot to others. He always talked about wanting to become a journalist but I never saw him push forward with that dream"

He threw his hands up in the air when he thought of the one thing that annoyed him about Laguna.

"And that stupid leg cramp of his! I swear whenever he saw mom his leg would cramp up and he would have to sit down. If his leg was always acting like that, he should have seen someone about it. He could fight in wars but he couldn't even talk to a woman"

He sighed when he finally calmed down.

"But he always treated mom like she was special" he admitted quietly.

"He was the first guy to actually treat her like a person instead of some heathen sorceress. He even hid the fact that she was one from his General so she and I would be safe. He really loved mom so much. He was so wonderful to her"

He closed his eyes painfully.

"But then he…"

Hikari knew what happened next. She had dreamt it a few times lately.

"He went away and never came back" she finished.

Leon nodded slowly.

"He had to go to a different world to fight a dangerous sorceress" he said.

"It wasn't Ultimecia, but this sorceress was just as bad. He said he would come back for us, but he never did. Mom was so devastated when she was given his dog tags that I thought she might die from a broken heart and she would have had she not found out about something"

Taiyouko had told her this back in the World that Never Was. She almost died from a broken heart when she found out she was pregnant with her. If it wasn't for her, Leon would have lost a mom a second time.

"Mom was thrilled when she found out she was having you" Leon said.

"Even though Laguna was gone, she would still have a part of him with her all the time. I was happy because mom was happy now and she had someone who would take her mind off of Laguna. I couldn't forgive him for leaving us like that and never coming back. He hurt mom badly so I ended up hating him. After you were born, I swore to myself that I would be the father figure you needed. Laguna was out of the picture, so the only one who could protect you was me. I'll admit, it was rough being a kid and raising a younger sister on my own like that, but I've never regret it at all"

He looked at Hikari to see her leaning against him. Her eyes started to grow heavy from being up so late. He smiled and nudged her a little to wake up.

"You can be a pain sometimes, but I wouldn't have you any other way" he said.

"I'm so proud to have you as my sister"

Hikari smiled tiredly and yawned.

"I wouldn't want any other brother than you, Ni-san" she yawned.

Leon chuckled a little and set her on his bed so she could sleep. He wasn't really tired anymore so he figured she would be able to use his bed properly.

"Get some rest, Hikari. We have worlds to travel tomorrow"

He kissed her forehead and tucked her in.

"Ni-san" Hikari said quietly.

"Hmm?" Leon asked.

With her eyes still closed, she asked him one final question.

"Do you still hate dad?"

Leon thought hard about his answer. His resentment for Laguna still burned deeply within his heart. He left their mom when she was pregnant with Hikari. Even if Taiyouko found out until after he was gone, he still shouldn't have left. If he had loved their mom, he would have stayed.

But then again, he was trying to keep them safe by making sure the sorceress didn't come to Radiant Garden. He was doing what any man would do for the woman that they loved.

"I…" he began.

He looked at Hikari to see her fast asleep in his bed.

He shook his head and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I don't forgive him…but I don't hate him" he quietly admitted.

"After all…he did give me you"

/

**A/N: Awww, Leon can be such a softie when it comes to Hikari. Even though they're not related by blood, they're bound by love.**

**And it seems like he really has negative feelings for Laguna. But then again, would be happy if the guy your mom loves suddenly vanishes and never comes back? At least Leon was there to take care of Hikari. **

**Next chapter we travel to one of the worlds! Which one it will be shall be a surprise. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	19. The Oogie Boogie Song

Chapter 19: The Oogie Boogie Song

**A/N: Since Halloween is almost here, I thought it would be appropriate for our characters to head on over to Halloween Town for some fun. **

**I'm glad you guys enjoyed Leon's past. I know it doesn't fit with the Leon from Final Fantasy 8 but it makes sense in this series. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

It was decided between Leon and Hikari that they wouldn't tell anyone about Leon being Hikari's adoptive brother. The two of them felt that this was something that should only be shared between siblings and that it should be their little secret.

Hikari wasn't ashamed or upset that Leon wasn't her biological brother, but she would respect his wishes.

They never said a word to anyone what happened that night as Mickey took them to their next world.

"So what do we do if we run into Ultimecia or Akumuko again?" Ankoku asked.

"Obviously they picked things up about us like how we fight and what groups we're in. We need to figure out what to do if they plan a surprise attack on us"

"Shouldn't you be able to see anything that's going to happen with those powers of yours?" Sora asked.

Ankoku shook her head.

"I can only see certain things that happen at certain times. Usually they're very important things like someone getting hurt or worse. I can't use my powers whenever I feel like it like Hikari can; it has a mind of its own"

Hikari patted her shoulder. She knew the feeling of having no control over powers that only you could wield. That was the same for her when she first started learning about her powers to see into the past.

"You'll get the hang of it" she said.

"It just takes time and practice"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"If you say so" she muttered.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself" Sora said.

"Out of all of us, we're probably going to depend on you the most. You can see into the future, so you can warn us of any danger that might happen while we travel. You're a key factor into us saving the worlds"

Ankoku smirked a little at being praised. She was starting to see why she liked Sora so much aside from the fact that he was Roxas's other half.

"I am important, aren't I?" she teased.

"Not really" Riku said.

Ankoku glared at him and chucked a random object at his head.

"Nobody asked you pretty boy" she snapped.

"We're about to land" Mickey called out.

"I wonder where we're going to be next" Goofy said.

"Oh it can't be so bad" Hikari said.

/

"Ok, I take back what I said" Hikari groaned.

It seemed that Mickey brought them to none other than Halloween Town where good old Jack Skellington lived.

The town looked the same as it did before with the creepy atmosphere and bone chilling graveyard.

Sora, and Hikari were back in their costumes while everyone had their own new ones.

Tsukiko was a cat woman with the pointed ears and skimpy outfit.

Ankoku was a succubus with blue butterfly wings and fangs.

Riku was a werewolf with a pair of ears coming out of his hair and his outfit ripped in a few places.

Leon looked like a zombie with the deadly white skin, and gangly looking body.

And of course Angelo looked the same, only that his nose had an orange pumpkin on it that glowed.

"Looks like you guys get to change outfits too" Sora said.

Everyone had mixed reactions about the costumes, some were happy with them while others were annoyed by it.

"Why do I have to be a zombie?" Leon said.

"Hey, you think you got it bad? At least you don't have a tail" Riku pointed out, showing off his long fluffy tail.

Hikari had to laugh at the sight of his boyfriend with a big fluffy tail. She thought the ears were bad but the tail just topped it all off.

"You guys looked creepy" she said.

"But I think that fits with this world. Everything about this is creepy…especially the dark"

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark" Donald said.

Hikari gave the duck a nasty look.

"Hey! I have every right to be afraid of something!" she insisted.

"You always get afraid when Daisy is mad at you. Don't judge"

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"I wonder what Jack's up to?" Sora asked.

"I hope he's not trying to take over Christmas again"

"Well, if you see a sleigh being driven by skeleton reindeer then you'll know he is" Hikari said.

They headed to the town square hoping that they would run into the Pumpkin King.

/

The town looked as creepy as it did the last time they were there. The fountain oozed out green colored water while the giant guillotine's blade looked as sharp as ever. And of course they couldn't forget about the jack-o-lanterns that were scattered here and there.

Yep, everything looked just fine.

"Looks like nothing out of the ordinary here" Ankoku said.

She remembered coming to this world while she was still in the Organization. She always had to do recon missions and would find bizarre things here and there.

"I wonder where Jack is?" Sora said.

"He's usually trying to scare us when we come to visit"

Angelo sniffed the ground trying to find anything out of the ordinary. This world was creepy enough as it is. As a dog, it was his job to sense things that humans couldn't. He made sure to stay away from the guillotine in case the blade fell down and went towards the fountain. He smelled something off about it and wanted to take a closer look. He propped himself onto of the fountains edge when he smelled something coming from the water and took a closer look.

Just as he was about to get closer, a skeleton jumped out of the water and tried to claw at him.

Angelo jumped back and snarled at the skeleton that climbed out of the water and staggered towards him. This enemy had bad news written all over it. It had a menacing look upon its skulled face and was painted in bright neon colors. It gave off a bad vibe and looked like it didn't want to play with anyone. A few more climbed out of the fountain and started staggering towards the dog.

Angelo sensed how dangerous is suddenly became and barked to alert the others.

Hikari saw that her dog was being surrounded by skeletons and quickly went into action.

"Get away from my dog!" she yelled as she flung her blaster edge at them. The disk hit them and caused them to topple over but they simply out themselves back together and closed in on Angelo.

Hikari quickly stood in front of her pet and summoned her keyblade.

"I don't know what you guys are but you're not taking another step" she growled.

Riku panicked when he saw how many skeletons surrounded Hikari and went to aid her. He summoned his keyblade as well and stood back to back with his girlfriend.

"Let's do this" he said.

The two of them attacked at the same time and tried to get rid of the skeletons.

Leon went to help them but more of them climbed up from the ground and blocked his path. The group was surrounded as more skeletons appeared out of nowhere.

"What are these things?" Tsukiko asked.

"I don't know but whatever they are, I don't like them" Donald cried.

No matter what they did the skeletons would keep reappearing and closing in on them. All of them were back to back with each other as they were circled around the skeletons.

"Enough already!" Sora whined.

"Somebody help us!" Donald cried.

The skeletons grew closer as they growled and clawed at them. Out of nowhere a blob of green substance shot out and hit the skeletons, turning them into a pile of bones. One by one the skeletons were hit with the green blob and feel to the ground lifelessly.

"Thank goodness you're alright"

Everyone turned to see none other than Jack Skellington. He looked the same as ever wearing his pin stripped suit and his large bat tie. The newest thing about him was that he had this strange looking blob wrapped around his wrist.

"Jack!" Sora and Hikari cried.

The pumpkin king smiled and waved at his friends.

"It's good to see you all again" he said.

"And it looks like you brought some friends of your own"

Sora nodded.

"Yep, this is Riku, Tsukiko, Ankoku and Hikari's brother, Leon" he said.

"Guys, this is Jack. He's the ruler of Halloween Town"

Everyone said their hellos.

"What's going on here, Jack?" Hikari asked.

"What were those things just now?"

Jack frowned and scratched his cheek bone.

"Well, that's the problem. Things haven't been really going well since you guys left" he said.

"About a month ago, this witch came and revived Oogie Boogie. He wasn't happy about what being debugged again so he decided to take revenge. The witch created those skeletons to terrorize the town and attack the other holiday worlds. Things have been really bad here in Halloween Town. Its taking everything that I got to keep everyone safe, but even that isn't enough."

That was bad news. Oogie Boogie used to work for Maleficent and caused problems in Halloween Town. Not only that he tried to turn Santa into a heartless.

"Who was the witch that helped him?" Hikari asked.

Jack shrugged.

"I have no idea. All I could tell was that she wore ripped clothing and has this creepy lion looking creature with her"

Akumuko.

So she made her way to Halloween Town as well. But something didn't add up to Jack's story. How was she here a month ago when she recently revealed herself to everyone.

"How does that work? Akumuko has been causing trouble until recently" Sora said.

"It's probably Ultimecia" Leon said.

"She has the power to travel through time so she probably sent Akumuko back to a month ago to cause trouble here"

"Do you know if she's still here?" Hikari asked.

Jack shook his head.

"No. She hasn't been spotted here in Halloween Town since she summoned Oogie Boogie back. I was going to check on Christmas Town to make sure Sandy Claws is ok. I just need to check in with the doctor to see how his latest experiment is going"

"He's not making another robot or a heart for heartless is he?" Goofy asked.

Jack laughed and shook his head.

"Of course not. He's making things that will help us get rid of these creatures that Oogie Boogie has under his control. Why, he even made this weapon called a Soul Robber"

He held up his hand that had the green glob wrapped around it.

"Marvelous, isn't it?" he asked.

"Looks more like snot if you ask me" Ankoku muttered.

Jack started walked towards Dr. Finklestien's laboratory and ushered the others to follow him.

"I'll just see how his experiment is going" he said.

"It shouldn't be long and maybe you guys can help"

"Somehow, I really don't want to know what the doctor is making" Hikari said.

Sora just tugged her along as they made their way to the Doctor's lab.

/

As usual, the doctor was pouring over a book containing the latest formulas to his experiments. This time, he was creating some type of doll that would fend off the monsters that Oogie Boogie was using. From the looks of it, it appeared to be some sort of animal that had massive paws and firey hair that made up its mane. It was an interesting creature, but the question was would it work or not.

Dr. Finklestien scratched at his brain, causing some of them to cringe at the scene as he double checked his work.

"I think that should do it" he said.

He went over to an electric box and pulled the lever to start it up. Electricity shot from the device and hit the doll. After a few minutes, the doctor cut off the power and went over to the table to see if his experiment worked.

"This should get rid of Oogie's monsters" he said.

The creature blinked its eyes to life and slowly sat up on the table. It looked around, wondering where it was and who the people were in the room.

Jack seemed to be amazed by the doctor's creation as usual and stared in amazement.

"What a magnificent specimen you created Doctor" he said.

Dr. Finkelstien smiled proudly.

"Of course it is. Why else would I create it?" he stated.

"I call it the Moomba"

Everyone took a closer look at the creature and wondered what it could do.

"Doesn't look fancy to me" Donald said.

The Moomba heard Donald's remark and went crazy. It let out a high pitched screech as it jumped all over the lab, knocking beakers over and breaking things in its path.

"Donald!" Sora yelled.

Everyone tried catching it whenever it was near them, but it would just jump out of the way and hiss at them.

At one point Tsukiko got fed up and shot a bit of fire at it, causing it to get scared and stop in its tracks.

"Knock it off!" she ordered. Her cat ears were pressed down to her head while her tail twitched with annoyance.

The Moomba looked at her, tilting its head back in forth while thinking. It jumped up and latched itself to her, purring as it rubbed its head on her chest.

"I think it likes you" Sora said.

Tsukiko looked at the Moomba in fear and wonder as it continued to nuzzle her. She tried letting it go, but with its sharp claws, it stayed put.

Dr. Finkelstein slammed his fist onto the table with frustration.

"Failure! Complete failure!" he cried.

"This thing will never help us with Oogie's minions. It can't even do anything"

The Moomba hissed at him, feeling insulted by being called a failure. Tsukiko rubbed its furry head to calm it down.

"Why don't we just take care of the situation for you?" she offered.

Sora and Hikari nodded at that idea. They defeated Oogie Boogie before twice; surely they could beat him a third time. That and they could check where Akumuko was hiding.

"Just leave this to us. We'll take care of Oogie and his minions"

The doctor just grumbled and went back to his work, trying to figure out what went wrong with his experiment.

"So what's the plan exactly?" Riku asked.

"Where do we even find this Oogie Boogie?"

Jack scratched his head.

"Well, I was going to go check up on Sandy Claws to make sure he's ok. I would never forgive myself if he got caught up in this mess"

"So a trip to Christmas Town is in order, huh?" Hikari said.

"I'll go with you. Besides I'm sure Riku would love to know that he was wrong about him not being real"

Riku blushed and just examined his furry claws.

"What about me?" Sora pouted.

"I wanted to see him too"

Hikari gave him a sour look.

"No way. You stay here and see if you can find any leads to Oogie Boogie. If you come with to Christmas Town, you'll just get distracted by everything and ask Santa if you're on his good list"

Sora crossed his arms when he was caught.

"Fine, we'll see if we can find anything here" he grumbled.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"And Roxas wanted to return to him" she muttered.

"Try to keep out of trouble while we're gone" Hikari said.

"We won't be long"

Hikari and her group followed after Jack while Sora and others stayed behind.

"Where should we start?" Tsukiko asked.

Sora rubbed his chin in thought. Who would know about Oogie Boogie and where he was hiding?

He snapped his fingers when he figured it out.

"Lock, Shock and Barrel!" he cried.

"They're Oogie's henchmen. They just have to know what Oogie is up to. I bet they even know where he is"

"Do you know where they could be?" Ankoku asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yep, they have a clubhouse not too far from here. I'll show you"

He rushed out of the lab, with a plan in mind. If they couldn't find Oogie Boogie themselves, then they would just ask the ones who helped him.

Tsukiko and Ankoku followed him while Donald lagged behind.

"I have a really bad feeling about this" he said.

Ankoku just scoffed.

"You're just a chicken" she said.

"No, I'm a duck!" Donald snapped.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say bird brain"

/

It wasn't hard to find Lock, Shock and Barrel's clubhouse. It was so huge and massive that it was impossible to miss. It looked creepier than the last time that Sora saw it, but that could be because they rebuilt it when Oogie Boogie demolished it.

"Well, this looks like the right place for a bad guy to live" Tsukiko said.

"Just be on your toes" Sora warned.

"Lock, Shock and Barrel might be kids, but they're no pushovers. They always have a few tricks up their sleeves"

Ankoku laughed darkly as she cracked her knuckles.

"Well what do you know? I think I might just have fun beating up some kids"

"You're scary" Donald said.

Sora crossed the bridge leading up to the clubhouse and motioned for the others to follow him.

"Watch where you step. You never know what kind of traps they might have planted"

They carefully made their way up to the terrifying clubhouse. Each step they took they feared would be their last since the bridge was rickety and the floorboards creaked under their weight. They were lucky that none of those skeletons decided to show otherwise fighting them would have been rather tricky. Once false move and they would have fallen down a deep pit.

When they reached the top of the clubhouse they knew that they reached Lock, Shock and Barrel's hideout.

"Ok, this is where they should be" Sora said.

Everyone summoned their weapons in case they were given a little surprise when they stepped inside.

Sora and Donald stepped in first, knowing that Oogie's little pranksters probably set up traps everywhere.

When they stepped inside, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary and figured it was safe.

"Looks like the coast is clear" Sora said.

Tsukiko and Ankoku stepped in and looked around the room for the kids.

It was a rather disturbing room for kids to play in with torture devices scattered all over the place and crude drawings smearing on the walls. It was like stepping into a horror film.

"Clearly their parents don't pay much attention to what they do" Tsukiko said.

A mini pumpkin bomb went off and scared the group. The Mooba that was still hanging onto Tsukiko hissed and jumped off to hide somewhere.

Laughter filled the room and Lock, Shock and Barrel came out of their hiding spots.

"You should have seen the looks on your faces" Shock said.

"We were hoping the duck would scream like a girl" Lock added.

Sora crossed his arms and gave them a stern look, although it didn't really work.

"Alright you three, I'm sure you all know why we're here" he said.

"You want us to scare you to death?" Barrel asked.

"No! Tell us where Oogie Boogie is!" Donald demanded.

The three children put on face confused looks.

"Oogie Boogie?" they asked.

"Yeah, you know as in the bad guy that you work for who has been terrorizing the town for the past month. That Oogie Boogie" Ankoku said dully.

Lock, Shock and Barrel looked at each other and just grinned evilly.

"Don't know what you're talking about" they said as they ran away from them.

"Oh no you don't!" Donald cried.

All chaos broke out as Oogie's henchmen ran around the room, causing Sora and the others to knock into things or into each other. They would always throw things at them and had them explode hoping it would hurt them or do something worse.

Ankoku started getting pissed off and summoned her nun chucks with evil intentions.

"Some brats are going to die tonight!" she hissed.

She swung the metal bars around the room breaking things as she tried to hit the little brats that she thought were gremlins.

She didn't need to see into the future to know when to hit her opponents. She swung her nun chucks at their little bodies and had them hit the walls like they were a sack of bricks. When they were all out for the count she laughed like a maniac when she saw that she won.

"Never mess with someone twice your size you little brats" she barked.

Sora put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down so she wouldn't do any more damage.

"We can't kill them. That would be against our code as keyblade wielders"

Ankoku rolled her eyes and dismissed her nun chucks.

Tsukiko went over to where Lock, Shock and Barrel were huddled and crossed her arms.

"Now will you tell us where Oogie Boogie is?"

The three children looked at each other as if thinking of what to do next before they grinned.

"Sure, we'll tell you" they said.

"Better yet, why don't we _show _you?"

The pulled down a lever and laughed like maniacs.

"Trick or Treat!"

The floor beneath them gave way and cause our heroes to slide down a shut. The sound of them screaming made Lock, Shock and Barrel die with laughter.

The Moomba came out from its hiding place when it sensed the fighting was over and went towards the hole that its new friends went down. Sniffing the air, it sensed something evil coming from down below and decided to go find out what it was.

That was what it was created for after all.

/

The four of them fell through the ceiling and landed on the hard ground with a heavy thud. Everything was pitch black save for the lighting that was coming from the playroom upstairs.

"Is everyone alright?" Sora asked.

All he got was groans of pain.

"I'm going to kill those brats when I get my hands on them" Ankoku hissed.

She slowly started to get up with something slithered around her wrists and wrapped around them tightly.

She screamed when she saw a pair of snakes bind her hands and feet together, rendering her motionless while the same happened for Sora and the others.

They all struggled to get free from their bonds when all of a sudden a shadow loomed over them.

Sora slowly looked up to see none other than Oogie Boogie standing before. The look on his face was that of sheer joy and evil.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" he cooed.

"If it isn't the little keyblade brat. And it looks like he brought some friends with him too"

He cackled as the room came to life to reveal an evil casino with the Oogie flare. He went over to Ankoku and Tsukiko, studying them with those sunken eyes of his.

"_You're jokin', you're jokin'_

_You have me in a whirl _

_You're jokin' me, you gotta be_

_This can't be the right girl. _

_You're puny, pathetic._

_I don't know which is worse._

_I might just split a seam now _

_If I don't die laughing first._

_Mr. Oogie Boogie says_

_There's trouble close at hand_

_So you better pay attention now_

'_Cause I'm the Boogieman._

_And if you aren't shakin' _

_Then there's something very wrong._

'_Cause this may be the last time now _

_That you hear the boogie song._

_Ohhh (ohhh)_

_Ohhh (ohhh)_

_Ohhh (Ohhh)_

_I'm the Oogie Boogie man"_

"Oh god, does everyone have to sing on each world we go to?" Ankoku spat.

Sora struggled with his bonds and tried to break himself free.

"Ooogie, you better stop this before someone gets hurt"

"Yeah and stop singing while you're at it" Ankoku added.

"Your singing sucks!"

Oogie just laughed.

"_Ha You're jokin', you're jokin'_

_I can't believe my ears _

_Will someone shut this brat up_

_I'm drowning in my tears._

_It's funny, I'm laughing_

_You really are too much_

_And now with your permission_

_I'm gonna do my stuff"_

"W-what are you gonna do?" Donald gulped.

"I'm gonna do the best I can" Oogie laughed.

He started dancing as he had a set of dice in his hands.

"_Oh, the sound of rollin' dice to me_

_Is music in the air._

'_Cause I'm a gamblin' Boogie man_

_Although I don't play fair._

_It's much more fun I must confess_

_With lives on the line._

_Not mine, of course_

_But yours, you brats_

_Now that'll be just fine"_

He hooked them up to a crane and had then dangling in the air. They continued to struggle, knowing that Oogie was serious about killing. It was a hobby of his.

"You better let us go before you get into some serious trouble" Tsukiko ordered.

Oogie just laughed and juggled the dice in his hand.

"_Oh, brother, you're something_

_You put me in a spin._

_You aren't comprehending _

_The position that you're in_

_It's hopeless, you're finished._

_You haven't got a prayer._

'_Cause I'm Mr. Oogie Boogie_

_And you ain't going nowhere"_

"Are you done singing?" Ankoku asked.

"I would rather be tortured than to listen another song coming out of your mouth"

Oogie just laughed.

"All in good time, sweet checks" he said.

"I have to torture you first. Orders from Akumuko"

Ankoku stuck her tongue out at being called 'sweet checks' and gagged.

"Why are you helping Akumuko?" Sora asked.

Oogie shrugged and craned them higher into the air.

"She loves torture as much as I do. A woman after my own heart" he cackled.

"And she promised to help me get rid of old Jack once and for all. How can I pass that up?"

"You're playing a dangerous game here" Tsukiko warned.

"You won't make it out alive"

Oogie just laughed.

"I would be more worried about your friends then about me right now" he said.

"I hear that they're having a blast in Christmas Town"

"What did you do to Hikari?" Ankoku demanded.

Oogie just shrugged.

"Nothing, but I'm sure that witch did a number on her. She said she was intent on getting her little claws on her no matter what"

"What does she want with Hikari?" Donald asked.

"Why would I know, bird brain?" Oogie spat.

"I could really care less at this point. All that I care is making snake and spider stew out of all of you"

He pressed a button that opened a hatch underneath them. Bubbling lava oozed from beneath them as some of it bubbled out and hit the metal floor.

Everyone curled their feet up in fear, afraid that they would get burned from the lava that sprayed out.

Oogie held up the dice in his hand.

"How about a little dinner and a show?" he asked.

He went over to a roulette table and held up a tiny ball.

"Let's see what your lucky number shall be" he said.

He spun the ball in the roulette and watched as it fell into the thirteen slot.

"Oh, thirteen! What an unlucky number…but not for me!"

He went over to the lever and hit it thirteen times, making them fall slower and slower into the lava.

"Now it's mine turn" he said.

He went back to the roulette table and spun the ball.

"We need to get out of here fast" Ankoku whispered.

"Otherwise we're in hot water"

"I think lava is the correct term" Tsukiko said.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

Sora tried reaching for his whip but he couldn't move his hands properly.

"It's no use" he whispered.

"I can't reach my whip. Otherwise I would have closed that hatch up"

Donald hung his head in defeat.

"We're doomed" he said.

Just then, the Moomba plopped onto Donald's head and gave the duck a scare. Everyone shushed him before Oogie would notice them.

"Hey, it's that freaky doll the doctor made" Ankoku said.

The Moomba climbed over their heads, trying to figure out what was going on.

Tsukiko got an idea when she saw how sharp its claws where. Maybe he could cut their binds.

"Hey, can you cut these binds around our hands?" she asked.

The Moomba titled its head in confusion not registering what she saw saying. Tsukiko jiggled her wrists, showing it the bonds.

"Cut the bonds" she said.

The Moomba figured it out and started clawing away at her bonds. When she was finally free, she jumped up and grabbed the chain that they were on so she wouldn't fall.

"I guess being a cat has it's perks" she said.

"Just reach the switch and close the hatch before we fall to our doom" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko did as she was told and climbed up the ceiling and made her way over to the lever with her sharp claws.

She landed in front of the lever and smirked in victory.

"Too easy"

Grabbed the lever and went to pull it, only to have Oogie Boogie stop her.

"What's too easy, kitty cat?" he asked.

Tsukiko hissed at him and kicked him out of the way before she pulled the lever.

The hatch leading to the lava pit closed up so that Sora and the others would be safe from harm.

The Moomba managed to free them all at that point and let them land safely at the platform.

"Looks like you're the one with bad luck, you burlap sack" Ankoku said.

Oogie acted like he was scared as he slowly stepped back. It truth he was actually excited, knowing that they were falling right into his trap.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that" he said.

He stomped on a button that was on the floor which activated the giant roulette device that made the room.

"In fact, I would say that you're the ones with the bad luck"

Sora ducked as knives flew at them while they were spinning on the device.

"I almost forgot about this thing" he said.

Everyone ducked to the ground as a deck of cards caged them and had swords swinging all over the place.

"I told you that I don't play fair" Oogie laughed.

Tsukiko maneuvered her way through the blades until she reached a button on the ground that stopped them. The cards slowly went down into the ground, only to be replaced with a set of slot machine figures that had guns on them.

Ankoku jumped on top of them and stepped on them as they fired so they wouldn't hurt her friends.

"Get Oogie before he gets away!" she called.

Sora ran after Oogie as the burlap sack jumped on the hook that they were on before and tried to get away.

"So long fellas! Ah ha ha!" he cackled.

The Moomba noticed a loose string from Oogie's sack and jumped at him. Oogie swatted him away like he was bug as the creature crawled all over him.

"Get off of me you little gremlin" he spat.

The Moomba caught the string and jumped off of Oogie causing the sack that made his body start to unravel. Oogie panicked when some of his bug started leaking out and tried to put them back in.

"No! Not again!" he cried.

Sora grabbed the string from the Moomba and gave it a harsh tug, causing the sack to split apart completely.

"That's enough out of you!" he cried.

Oogie cried as he slowly started to crumble away into tiny bugs.

"No! My bugs! My bugs!"

One bug tried to get away but Donald squashed it with his foot.

"That'll teach him a lesson" he said.

"Nobody messes with Donald Duck"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right. You didn't do anything. All you did was run that beak off of yours. And you saved the worlds from darkness"

Donald crossed his arms in aggravation.

"Take it easy you two. Donald will get his moment" Sora said.

Donald nodded his head.

"You got that right"

The Moomba jumped on top of his head as it purred in curiosity.

"Get off of me!" Donald barked.

The Moomba jumped off of him and landed into Tsukiko's shoulder. The nobody laughed as she stroked its fur.

"You sure saved us little guy. We couldn't have done it without you"

The Moomba purred as it nuzzled its head into her neck.

"Looks like Tsukiko made a new friend" Sora said.

"So what do we do now that Oogie Boogie is taken care of?" Donald asked.

Ankoku had an evil smirk spread across her lips as she came up with an idea.

"Oh, I can think of something"

/

Back up in the playroom, Lock, Shock and Barrel were huddled over a tube that let them listened to what was going on down in Oogie Boogie's lair. They really couldn't hear much since there was so much noise down there that they didn't know if Sora and the others were eaten.

"I wonder if he turned them into snake and spider stew?" Barrel asked.

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" Lock stated.

They went over to the lever that they used to drop Sora and the others down below and opened it.

They went over to peer down to see the final outcome of their prank.

"I don't see anything" Shock said.

"Maybe we should take a closer look?" Barrel suggested.

They crept closer to the edge to get a better look, only for a hand to shot out and grab the edge.

They all screamed and back away as Ankoku slowly climbed up from the pit. She had an evil possessive look upon her face as she cackled crazily.

The three pranksters were terrified at the sight and thought she was the scariest person that they ever saw.

Ankoku cracked her knuckles as she laughed wickedly.

"Now then, I think it's time for a little payback from before"

The three children yelped as they clung to each other and shook as she grew closer. They were toast and they knew it.

"W-we're sorry! We're very sorry!" they cried.

Ankoku summoned her keyblades as her eyes glowed with insanity.

"That's what I'm going to tell your parents when you don't go home tonight" she said.

They screamed as she lunged for them and delivered her revenge.

Sora cringed at the scene and looked at Tsukiko.

"Should we stop her?" he asked.

Tsukiko waved it off.

"Nah, let her have her fun" she said.

"She'll be tired after words and won't cause us a lot of problems"

Sora just sighed and watched his friend torturing Lock, Shock and Barrel with pleasure.

Somehow, he had a feeling that she would fit perfectly in this world.

/

**A/N: Oh I would love to see a drawing of Ankoku torturing Lock, Shock and Barrel. I think that last scene was my favorite in this chapter to be honest. You never want to see Ankoku when she's crazy.**

**I bet you guys liked hearing the Oogie Boogie song, right? It is almost Halloween so I just had to use it. **

**And it looks like Tsukiko made a new friend with the Moomba. Had to bring the Moomba since we see him in Final Fantasy 8. I just need to come up with a name for him that fits with Tsukiko.**

**Next time we get to see how things are in Christmas Town!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	20. Christmas Town

Chapter 20: Christmas Town

**A/N: Hey everyone! I am so sorry about the super long wait. I was bombarded with so many papers for one of my classes that it took up most of my time. But on the upside, I'm done for the semester so that means I have a month off before I go back to school. That means more chapter updates! And since it's almost the Holidays, I thought this would be the perfect time for Hikari to head on over to Christmas Town. **

**I've also decided to focus more on Hikari's team rather than switch it between her and Sora for the time being. Mainly because I want to focus on Hikari and Riku's relationship and her learning more about Laguna. We'll still see Sora, Ankoku and Tsukiko still goofing off every now and then for a laugh. I hope you guys don't mind. Maybe I'll do a side story where it's just on Sora's team. **

**Just what has Santa been up to since we last saw him?**

**I don't own anyone except my oc's.**

**Happy Holidays! **

**Enjoy!**

/

While Sora's team was being preoccupied with Oogie Boogie, Jack was taking Hikari and her group to visit Santa. With Halloween Town being protected by Sora, they needed to make sure Christmas Town was alright as well.

"Do you think Sora will be alright by himself?" Goofy asked.

"He'll be fine. Sora's always been able to look out for himself" Riku said.

Hikari nodded but didn't say much. She was a little too freaked out by the fact that they had to cross through a dark, creepy forest to reach the door to Christmas Town. It didn't matter how many times she came to this world, it still freaked her out. Anything that associated with the dark freaked her out big time.

Riku and Leon of coursed were able to pick that up and stayed close to her in case she freaked out. They would secretly glare at each other as if daring the other to act up so they would get Hikari's attention.

Jack of course was oblivious to all of this and kept talking about Santa and Christmas Town.

"I hope Sandy Claws is alright" he said.

"I would never forgive myself if he got hurt because of Oogie Boogie"

"I'm sure he'll be ok" Hikari said nervously.

She kept jumping whenever she heard an owl chirping or feel a bat fly over her head.

"Santa's tough. If he could handle you trying to take over Christmas, he could handle whatever Oogie has in mind for him"

Angelo kept his nose close to the ground as he searched for clues. It was cute to watch his little pumpkin nose glow against the ground and act like a search light for the group.

"So Santa actually exists?" Leon asked skeptically.

"Of course he does, Ni-san" Hikari said.

"Sora and I saw him when we were last here. He said you and I were on his nice list while Sora was questionable"

Leon raised an eyebrow. He found it hard to believe that someone as innocent as Sora wouldn't be on the nice list.

"What did he do to deserve that?"

Hikari giggled and looked at Riku.

"Riku mentioned once when we were kids that Santa didn't existed and Sora believed in him"

Riku blushed and cleared his throat, remembering that incident and how he acted like an idiot when he saw Hikari get upset over it.

"I was only six, give me a break" he muttered.

Hikari and Goofy laughed at Riku and found it to be cute.

"I bet he just said that because Santa didn't get him what he wanted for Christmas" Goofy teased.

Riku's face went a little redder and his wolf ears went down.

Hikari just laughed some more at the sight.

"Is that true, Riku?" she asked.

Riku shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Maybe" he mumbled.

"What was it?" Goofy asked.

Riku's face went ever redder and he quickened his pace.

"None of your business" he said.

Leon narrowed his gaze, at him having a feeling it had something to do with Hikari.

They continued further down into the forest where the holiday worlds of old stood. As they grew closer to the doors, Angelo picked up a scent that he didn't like at all. Pressing his ears back, he locked onto the scent and picked up the pace.

"Did you find something, Angelo?" Hikari asked.

The German Sheppard continued searching until he found the source of the scent. Growling menacingly, he faced at the door leading to Christmas Town.

"Well, it looks like we know where the trouble is" Leon said.

Hikari opened the door and looked through the opening.

"I don't see anything. Maybe something's happening on the other side?"

She peered in further, only to have Leon pull her back.

"Hang on there. I don't know how these doors work so I'll go first"

Hikari huffed and crossed her arms.

"I've gone through this once before, Ni-san. I know what to do" she argued.

Leon shook his head.

"Doesn't matter, if Akumuko or Ultimecia are on the other side, then you know something bad is waiting for us. I'll go first"

Hikari pouted like a little child. Why did her brother have to treat her like a baby sometimes?

Riku went up to the door as well and gave Leon a look.

"I'll go too" he said.

"Besides, that's what a proper knight and _boyfriend_ would do"

Leon glared at him and balled his hand into a fist.

"Watch it you little punk" he growled.

The two of them glared before they shoved each other to get through the door first.

"They seem to be getting along" Goofy said.

Hikari sighed.

"If only" she said sadly.

"We better jump in. I don't want them fighting when Santa's around"

They jumped into the opening and traveled into the wondrous world that was Christmas Town.

/

When they reached to the other side, they all landed into a giant dog pile.

Hikari managed to be on top and was able to look around the area.

"That was a fun ride" Goofy said as he laughed.

"Oh yeah, it was fun" Riku grunted as he struggled to get out of the pile.

"Oh! Sorry, Riku" Hikari said.

She looked around for her brother but couldn't find him.

"Where's Ni-san?"

The sound of a muffled voice alerted them and revealed that he was at the bottom of the pile and that his face was covered with snow.

Hikari quickly got off and helped Riku and her brother get up.

"Sorry, Ni-san. Are you ok?" she asked.

Leon spit out a mouthful of snow and gave her a dull look.

"Oh I'm super" he said sarcastically.

Riku snickered at his frost bitten face and couldn't help but feel like it was karma.

"That's actually a good look for you" he said.

Leon growled at him wiped his face of snow.

"If you like it so much I would be more than happy to do the same for your face" he threatened.

Riku was about to give a nasty retort when Jack broke in.

"Hurry! We have to save Sandy" he said.

He rushed ahead of them, leaving them behind.

"We better hurry too" Goofy said.

"We don't want anything bad to happen to Santa or Christmas"

Hikari slowly walked ahead, knowing her boots didn't work well with the thick snow on the ground.

"He's right. We need to hurry"

She took a few careful steps before she slipped and fell into the snow.

"I knew these boots wouldn't work well here" she groaned.

Riku went over to her and picked her up.

"Jump on my back, I'll carry you down to where Santa is" he said.

Hikari blushed and got on his back.

"Thank you"

Riku just smirked at her and held her tightly.

"Anything for you" he said.

Hikari smiled and nuzzled her face into his hair, enjoying the smell of it.

Riku wore a proud smirk on his face, knowing he scored a few boyfriend points for giving Hikari a piggy back ride. But that was ruined when Leon threw a snowball at his face and gave him a murderous look.

"Get moving you slow pokes" he said, although he directing it to Riku.

Riku growled like a wolf and had his dog ears back. If only he had the fangs of a wolf, then he would have bitten the gunblade master already.

They went down the path that Jack went and hurried to help the Pumpkin King rescue Santa.

/

It was obvious that something bad happened in Christmas Town. Smoke was coming out of the factories while the Christmas trees were caught on fire. Everywhere they looked, something was destroyed or demolished.

"This is horrible" Hikari said.

"Who could ever do such a thing?"

"Akumuko and Ultimecia" Leon said.

Jack was upset seeing Christmas Town in the state that it was in. It used to be a beautiful magical place but now it was destroyed.

"This isn't the Christmas Town that I know and love" he said.

"Do ya think Santa's ok?" Goofy asked.

Riku frowned.

"With the way things look, I wouldn't say so" he said.

Jack didn't like this and rushed into the town square. The sight that they say was so horrific that not even the residents of Halloween Town would do.

Dangling up from the town's water tower was none other than Santa Clause. The jolly old man was tied by the end of a rope that was suspended over a large target painted on the ground.

"Let me go!" Santa cried.

"Sandy!" Jack shouted.

Hikari gasped in horror at the sight of seeing Santa dangling dangerously above the ground.

"Mr. Clause" she called out.

She ran to go rescue him but someone got in her way. A set of knives flew at her and caused her to jump back so she wouldn't get hit. Akumuko cackled wickedly as she appeared from behind a building with a knife held between her fingers.

"Not so fast, girly" she teased.

"You wouldn't want to ruin my fun now would you?"

Hikari glared at the heartless and activated her blaster edge.

"What are doing to Santa Clause?" she asked.

Akumuko shrugged her shoulders as is she didn't care.

"Oh, not thing big" she said.

"Just have him fall and burst like a piñata. I've always wondered if the fat man was filled with something or was simply tubby"

Hikari growled and aimed her weapon at Akumuko.

"Release Santa now or you'll be sorry" she threatened.

Akumuko held her hands up in mock fright.

"Or what? You'll throw that little toy at me? Don't act to rationally. You see that rope that's wrapped around the fat man?"

Hikari slowly nodded her head.

"Well that rope is wrapped around the base of that water tower. If I were to let one of my knives slip and cut the rope, Mr. Rolly Polly will become a big Christmas mess all over the snow. Now do you want that to happen?"

Hikari pulled back on her weapon and ready to set it off.

"Do you honestly think that you would have the chance when you're too distracted with fighting me?" she asked.

Akumuko raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps" she admitted.

"But there's always plan B"

She snapped her fingers and out of nowhere, a deformed looking train came down a set of toy tracks. It looked like one of the toys Jack created when he was trying to take over Christmas with a snapping mouth that looked like it could cut through anything.

"First rule about being a sorceress: always have a backup plan" Akumuko teased.

Hikari fired off her blaster edge and went to attack her. Akumuko simply laughed as she flung her knives at her.

Riku and Leon went to help her but Jack stopped them.

"We need to save Sandy" he said.

"If that train cuts the rope, he's done for"

Riku studied the tracks to see that they could be changed around. If he could change the course the train went, then it wouldn't cut the rope.

"I have a plan" he said.

"I'll try to redirect the train so it won't reach the rope. Goofy, I need you to try to stop the train as best as you can. Do whatever it takes to make sure that train doesn't move. Jack, if any of those skeletons appear you try to keep them at bay. And Leon, I need you to climb the water tower and set Santa free in case we can't stop the train"

Leon wore a sour look.

"Why do I have to rescue him?"

Riku pointed to his gunblade.

"You're the only one in the group that has some type of knife" he reasoned.

"So hop to it"

Leon spun on his heel and stomped to the tower while grumbling.

"I'll be sure to cut you after this" he grumbled.

/

Fighting Akumuko alone was probably stupid on Hikari's part. She wasn't nearly as skilled as the heartless was when it came to fighting and she couldn't use her keyblade in this fight. Akumuko cackled every time she dodged Hikari's attacks, finding it hilarious that the young girl was even trying to fight.

"It's so pathetic to see you fighting that it's laughable" she cackled.

"What do you honestly hope to accomplish with fighting me on your own?"

Hikari gripped her blaster edge tightly to calm down her nerves. What did she hope to accomplish? She knew the real enemy she had to fight was Ultimecia. Akumuko was simply a henchman for her, even if she defeated her, it wouldn't matter because Ultimecia would still try to control time and bring chaos to the worlds. Her main focus shouldn't be on this witch.

Yet at the same time, her heart was telling her that she had to fight her, that she had to treat her the same way as she was with Ultimecia. Akukumo was dangerous and if she got away, she would cause more harm to others. She couldn't let her get away.

"I really don't know" she admitted.

"But…I do know one thing"

She summoned her keyblade and held her weapons with both hands.

"You're a very dangerous person. If I let you get away just because you're stronger than me, then you'll harm others. I can't let that happen. Harming others just for the fun of it is wrong. As long as I wield the keyblade, I will make it my personal mission to rid the worlds people like you"

She merged her weapons to create her ultimate weapon and aimed an arrow at her.

"As long as I'm a sorceress of light, I will always fight you"

Akukumo laughed and held up her blades.

"So be it" she said.

"But you'll never be able to withstand my powers. I'm known as the nightmare's child for a reason"

Her hand glowed red as she gathered her magic.

"Let's just see what a little sorceress of light is afraid of"

The area suddenly grew dark as darkness surrounded them. Everywhere Hikari looked she could see darkness. She couldn't even her friends, let alone her own hands. Her fears of the dark slowly crawled its way into her mind. She had been working so hard at trying to overcome her fears, but it wouldn't work. Every time she looked into the dark, she could see the heartless pouring out of it. She would remember when she separated by her family and when Xehanort tried to remove her heart.

She could see a hand coming out of the darkness and reaching out to her. She backed away, knowing that whoever it was, was not good.

"No!" she cried.

She tried backing away, but it was no good. The darkness was closing in on her, suffocating her with its evil powers.

She felt a sharp sting in her hand, which woke her from her trace and brought her back into Christmas Town. Two small bite marks were on her hand as if something bit her. Hikari jolted when she heard barking and felt Angelo nudging his nose into her side.

It seemed her faithful companion freed her from Akumuko's grasp.

"Good boy" Hikari said.

Akukumo scowled in disgust.

"Stupid mutt" she spat.

Hikari patted Angelo and notched her arrow again.

"And now it's your turn"

Aukumuko flung her knives at her and dodged Hikari's arrows. Hikari jumped out of the way as the knives flew past her and cast a few spells while she was readying another arrow.

It was really difficult trying to land a hit on the witch. She was fast on her feet but even faster when she threw her blades. Hikari almost felt like she fought someone who used knives before, but she couldn't remember who or when that happened. What she did remember was when she fought that person, she tackled the person to the ground so they couldn't throw their knives anymore.

It probably a stupid idea to do that to Akumuko, but she had a feeling that it might work. Dismissing her weapons, she lunged forward and tackled Akumuko to the ground. The two of them thrashed around in the snow, trying to throw each other off.

"Get off of me, you little brat!" Akumuko snarled.

Hikari wouldn't let go and tried ripping the knives out of her hands. She wouldn't be able to defeat her if she had her weapons on her, but she was sure she had a fair chance when it came to magic.

"I won't let go, even if it kills me!" she said.

Akumuko smirked darkly as if she thought of something.

"That can be arranged"

She kicked Hikari off of her and had her land on the train tracks that were wrapped around the water tower. Hikari tried to get up but couldn't because her dress was caught in the tracks.

"Oh dear, this is quite a troubling scene" Akumuko said.

"It looks like you can't get up. Whatever will you do when the train comes?"

To further her point, the train seemed to pick up speed once it was within sight of Hikari.

"Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone-literally" Akumuko said.

"I can get rid of you and the fat man at the same time. And just think of the bloody mess you'll make when that train runs you over? Oh I can't wait to see it"

Hikari panicked and tried to pull her dress out of the tracks, but it was wedged in tightly. She couldn't pull it any further without the fear of ripping her dress up and making her look indecent. She was in trouble and she knew it.

"Help!" she cried.

Riku heard her first as he was trying to change the direction of the train. He paled when he said Hikari stuck in the middle of the tracks with the train heading right towards her.

"Hikari!"

He ran over to her and skid in the snow when he reached her. He tried helping her get her dress out but not even he could pull it free. He remembered that Leon was supposed to cut Santa free and that he had his sharp gunblade.

"Leon, we need your help!" he called out.

Leon was in the middle of cutting Santa free with an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm a little busy at the moment" he snapped.

"Ni-san, help!" Hikari cried.

Leon finally looked at what was going on and panicked as well.

"Hang on, I'm coming"

He set Santa free and helped him towards the water tower before he climbed down to rescue his sister.

Hikari kept tugging on her dress and started to panic.

"Tugging won't do you any good, brat" Akumuko said.

"Unless you feel like ripping that dress off you completely, you're not going anywhere"

Riku glared at her with annoyance.

"Stay out of this"

Akumuko held her hands.

"Oh please. And miss the chance to see both get run over? I wouldn't want to ruin a good show"

Riku tried pulling but it just made the fabric stick to the tracks. He looked for Goofy, wondering where he was when he was supposed to stop the train. He found the knight in the middle of helping Jack get rid of the skeletons that kept popping up.

"Riku, the train is getting closer" Hikari whimpered.

Riku could see the train closing in on them. Its snapping jaws glistened in the light as if saying that it would rip them to shreds in a matter of seconds. If Goofy couldn't stop the train, then he would have to. Summoning his gun and keyblade, he clashed them together to create his ultimate weapon. The end result was a gunblade that looked like his keyblade.

Leon, who managed to get down from the tower, saw this and was livid.

"Oh hell no" he said.

Riku went into action and slammed his gunblade into the ground, creating a shockwave that threw the train off its tracks and into a pile of snow. The train stopped moving when it was off the tracks and moved no more. When the danger was gone, Riku went back to helping Hikari. The young sorceress was amazed with Riku's new weapon.

"Riku, that was amazing" she said.

Riku didn't really seemed to care and focused on helping his girlfriend get free.

"I wouldn't say so. I was just making sure nothing happened to my girlfriend"

Hikari blushed and smiled in gratitude. For some reason she felt a lot safer with Riku now that she knew he could create a gunblade.

Leon ran over to them, looking very annoyed.

"You ok, Hikari?"

Hikari nodded and pointed to Riku's gunblade.

"Look, Ni-san! Riku has a gunblade too! Now you have something in common"

"We do not!" Riku and Leon snapped at the same time.

They looked at each other and growled in annoyance. Leon was annoyed because he wasn't the only gunblade wielder of the group anymore and Riku was annoyed because his ultimate weapon had to resemble Leon's. Things just went from bad to worse in regards of them ever getting along.

Jack and Goofy came over with Santa in tow. Santa appeared to be fine with just a bump here and there.

"Is everything alright?" Goofy asked.

"Not really" Hikari said.

"My dress is caught in the tracks and I can't pull it out without ripping my dress"

"You're gonna have to cut a huge chunk out of it or else you'll be stuck there" Leon said.

"I can't set you free without taking a bit of it off"

Hikari pouted and crossed her arms.

"Fine, but don't make it short and skimpy. I have a reputation to keep up"

"I don't see how you can when you're dating some loser" Leon muttered.

Riku heard this and growled in annoyance. He just save Hikari and this was the thanks he got?

Leon carefully cut his sister away from the tracks while making sure her dress still looked modest. He didn't want any of the guys to see extra leg from his sister. When he felt that Hikari was good to go, he helped her up and made sure her dress was still at a good length that didn't show anything.

Hikari sighed with relief.

"Thanks better. I honestly thought it was going to get run over by that train"

"Oh, I can change that" Akumuko said.

Everyone forgot that she was still there since they were too focused on helping Hikari. The sorceress twirled her knives in her hand, looking annoyed that neither Santa or Hikari were dead.

"If you want something done, you just have to do it yourself" she spat.

Hikari quickly summoned her bow and fired off a few arrows. The arrows pinned AKumuko to a wall that was closest to her and prevented her from moving.

"Let's see you try getting out of that" Hikari said.

Akumuko growled as she tried to pull free.

"You're going to pay for this!" she yelled.

Everyone used this time to get away before Akumuko could get free. Santa came along since it was dangerous to stay in Christmas Town at the moment.

Akumuko tried to pull free from the arrows, murder written on her face.

"She won't get away with this" she hissed.

"That will be enough, Akumuko"

The witch froze when Ultimecia appeared before her. The sorceress of time did not look happy at all. It was obvious to tell that she was unhappy, even though her face was covered. Akumuko actually looked afraid when she felt the dark magic that was radiating off of Ultimecia.

The sorceress looked at the damage that her subordinate created.

"It looks like you created quite a mess while I was away" she said.

"And yet you couldn't handle Hikari"

Akumuko flinched at being scolded.

"It's not my fault! I almost had her trapped with my magic but that stupid mutt that she calls a pet broke her free from it!"

"No excuses!" Ultimecia snapped.

Akumuko flinched again.

Ultimecia sighed. Her delicate lips pulled into a frown.

"This certainly puts us back with our plans. Without Hikari we have no way of reaching our goal" she said.

"Why don't we just kill her?" Akumuko suggested.

"We just need the body after all"

Ultimecia shook her head.

"I need her alive in order for everything to work. I can't use her powers when she's dead. I'll just have to stop her before she reaches her friends"

Akumuko scoffed. If Hikari was able to stop her, then what chance did her mistress have of doing so?

"How are you going to accomplish that? That boy and her brother aren't really pushovers"

Ulitmecia laughed darkly.

"Hikari isn't the only one who has a pet"

/

Everyone made it to the door that would lead them back to Halloween Town. Since Christmas Town was dangerous at the moment, they had to take him where he would be safe.

"You'll be safe in Halloween Town, Mr. Claws" Jack said.

"And I promise not to take over Christmas while you're here"

Hikari and Goofy sighed, knowing about Jack's obsession with Christmas.

"It's not me that I'm worried about" Santa said.

"I'm worried about you children. That witch is very dangerous"

"We know and that's why we're keeping you safe. She won't harm you as long as we're here" Hikari said.

Santa shook his head frantically.

"That's not what I meant! She brought something horrible with her when she invaded Christmas Town" he said.

Hikari paled. What did Akumuko bring with her?

"What was it?"

Riku opened the door to find that they weren't alone. On other side of the door, was Ultimecia's pet, Griever. The deformed lion roared and raises its massive paw. Riku quickly closed the door and held it closed as the animal tried to rip it open.

"We have company" he said.

Griever kept bashing its claws against the door, ripping away their only source of protection. It took everything in Riku and Leon to keep the door closed.

"That's the thing that witch brought with her!" Santa cried.

"Looks like Akumuko had this planned in case we got away from her" Leon said.

"What do we do?" Goofy asked.

"We can't go out there or else that thing will eat us"

"And we can't go back to Christmas Town since Akumuko is still there" Hikari added.

"Which way to we go?"

Riku tried to figure out a plan while he struggled keeping the door shut. They had to go forward in order to reach Sora and his group but they couldn't when a rapid lion was trying to eat them. If only he could distract it long enough for the others to get away without Griever noticing.

"_Come on Riku think! Cats are very smart, so I can't of something stupid. What would distract a massive lion long enough for me to get the others to safety?"_

That's when he came up with an idea. Looking at Jack, he saw that he still had the Soul Robber wrapped around his wrist. Whenever it stretched out, it almost looked like it was string-something that cats like to play with.

"Jack, I need to borrow that Soul Robber" he said.

Jack looked confused but handed it over.

"Are you going to use it against that thing?" he asked.

Riku had the Soul Robber wrap around his wrist securely.

"Sort of. I'm going to distract it while you guys make it to the Town Square"

"But that's dangerous, Riku" Hikari reasoned.

Riku gave her a weak smile and gripped her shoulder.

"True, but if we stay here either Griever or Akumuko will get us. We need to move" he said.

"Just wait for me to get Griever away from the door then head for the town. Got it?"

Hikari gulped but nodded.

"Ok. Just stay here. Everything will be aright" Riku said.

Steadying his breath, he carefully wedged himself out of the door and pressed his back against it to keep it closed. Griever was snarling when it saw Riku and dug its paw into the ground. Riku kept calm and gripped the Soul Robber.

"Easy big guy, I'm sure you don't want to eat me" he said.

Griever just roared and snarled.

"Ok, maybe you do" Riku said.

"But wouldn't you rather play?"

He unwound the Soul Robber and let it dangle from his hand. That caught Griever's attention and suddenly he wasn't growling anymore.

"I thought you might like this" Riku said.

While Griever's attention was on the Soul Robber, everyone snuck out of the Christmas door and weaved their way through the trees so they wouldn't be spotted. Goofy kept his eyes glued on Griever that he didn't see a root that was sticking up and tripped over it. The sound caused Griever to look over and see everyone trying to get away. Growling low in its throat, Griever lunged for the group.

Riku acted quickly and flung the Soul Robber, having it wrap around Griever's legs and tripping it.

"Run!" Riku cried.

He summoned his keyblade and faced against Griever. If he could stall the beast for just a little bit, then that's all he needed. He needed to have the others get to safety more than anything else.

Griever growled and snapped its jaws at Riku. Riku backed up a bit but kept his eyes on the lion. He needed to see what the beast was thinking if he wanted to win against this thing. He swiped his keyblade at it and dodged when it swung its paw at him. He managed to get a few hit in here and there, but they seemed to bounce off the animals thick fur.

At one point, Griever got the best of Riku and pinned him to a tree, preventing him from moving. Riku tried to reach for his gun, but his hand couldn't reach the weapon. Griever pressed harder and harder into Riku, making it hard for the boy to breath.

"_I can't let it end like this" _he thought.

"_I have to keep Hikari safe"_

Griever raised its other paw to land the finishing blow. Then out of nowhere, something ran into it and threw it out of the way, freeing Riku in the process. The keyblade wielder coughed as he tried to regain his breath and looked at whoever saved him.

He was stunned to see that it was Angelo who saved him and that he was facing off against Griever. The German Sheppard snarled and snapped his teeth at Griever, showing he wasn't a happy dog. Griever growled as well, digging its paws into the ground.

Hikari panicked and went to go help her dog, but Leon held her back.

"It's too dangerous" he said.

Hikari had tears in her eyes when she looked at her brother.

"But he's my dog!" she said.

"I can't let him get hurt"

Leon shook his head sadly, showing that he wasn't giving in.

"It's either you or the dog and I'm afraid that I don't want to see my sister get hurt"

Hikari sobbed a little and looked at her dog facing off against Griever.

"Angelo"

Angelo snarled as he kept Griever away from Riku and the others. He sensed that this creature wanted to hurt his master and he wasn't going to let that fly. Griever started advancing forward, but Angelo sent him back by shooting lighting out of his mouth. He was a magical dog after all and he was going to use his powers. He fired spell after spell, sending the lion further back. He wasn't going to let this massive lion get in the way and he was going to show its place.

Griever got annoyed at one point and swung its paw at the dog. Angelo latched onto it with his teeth dug them deep into its flesh, making sure to break the skin. Griever howled in pain and tried swatting the dog off its paw, but the dog wouldn't let go. No matter how hard the lion shook, the dog kept a vice grip on its paw. Griever swung really hard when it got annoyed and had Angelo flying into one of the trees. The dog yelped in pain, but managed to pick himself up and block the lion from getting any closer to his friends.

Gathering all of the magic he had in his being, he formed a great big ball of energy in his mouth and blasted it at the lion. Griever slammed into a large tree and was left in a daze.

Seeing that he won this battle, Angelo barked in victory, showing that he was the boss.

"Angelo!" Hikari cried.

She ran over to her dog and hugged him tightly, glad that he was alright.

"Thank goodness you're alright. I was so scared"

Angelo wagged his tail and licked his owner's face, showing that he was alright. Riku went up to them and gave the dog a grateful smile.

"You saved my life back there" he said.

"Thank you"

Angelo licked his hand, and barked a bit.

Griever came back to its senses and shook his head to clear the haze. It growled when it looked at the group and went to attack them again.

"Run!" Leon yelled.

They ran as fast as they could back into the town, where surely Sora and the other would help them.

/

Sora wore a grim look on his face when he saw Ankoku hog tie Lock, Shock and Barrel. After they got out of Oogie Boogie's lair, she gave them a serious beat down to the point that they were knocked out.

"I think you over did it a little, Ankoku" he said.

Ankoku scoffed and sat on the ground.

"What are you talking about? I went easy on them" she said.

"They're lucky to be even alive"

Tsukiko shook her head as she stroked the Moomba's head.

"You are a very, very strange person Ankoku"

Ankoku gave her a mock salute.

"So where the hell is Hikari and the others? I thought they would be here by now"

Right on cue, Hikari and everyone else ran as fast as they could into the square. They looked like they were running for their lives with the fear that was on their faces.

"Help!" Hikari cried.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What's bothering you?" she asked.

Griever charged into the square, roaring loudly.

"That's what's bothering us" Leon said.

Sora and Donald yelped but summoned their weapons.

Ankoku was annoyed that she had to get involved with another fight so suddenly, but went into action. Looking around the square she spotted a guillotine that went down whenever someone went under it. Smirking darkly, she came up with a plan.

"Don't worry, I got this" she said.

She walked over to the guillotine and caught Griever's attention.

"Hey ugly, over here!" she called.

Griever turned around to see Ankoku giving rude gestures and making silly faces.

"You can't get me!" she taunted.

Griever growled and lunged for Ankoku, who jumped out of the way at the last second. The blade of the guillotine went down with a 'thwack' and made everyone cringe. Hikari was afraid to see the lion be cut in half but she willed herself to see the damage. Instead of being cut in half, Griever had its tail chopped off.

The lion whimpered in pain and looked at its tail which was lifeless on the ground.

Ankoku laughed and pointed at it.

"What's the matter? You gonna run away with your tail tucked between your legs? Oh wait! You can't!"

Griever whimpered and ran back towards the woods where Ultimecia and Akumuko would be at.

"Yeah, that's right. Run back to your momma like a little baby, you bitch!" Ankoku called out.

When the danger was gone, Hikari sighed and slumped to the ground.

"That was insane" she said.

"I think it's safe to say that Halloween Town won't be having any problems for a while" Sora said.

Santa sighed. All the events that had happened at the same time were taking a toll on him.

"Are you going to be alright, Mr. Claws?" Jack asked.

Santa nodded.

"I will be. Thank you for saving my life back there. I don't know what that witch would have done to me if you hadn't shown up" he said.

"Why did Akumuko try to do that to you in the first place?" Hikari asked.

Santa shook his head.

"I haven't the slightest idea. She claimed that she was trying to search for something and thought it would be in my workshop, but when she found out that it wasn't there, she got angry and thought it was hiding it, so she tied me up to that water tower, thinking that I would tell her then"

Sora scratched his chin.

"Yen Sid did mention that they were trying to look for something in this timeline, but we still don't know what it could be"

"Well, if they didn't find it on this world, then it's safe to say that they won't be staying in Halloween Town for very long" Leon said.

"They can't stay in this timeline for too long otherwise it'll distort time itself. Things that don't belong in a certain time messes things up"

"Then we should better hurry" Goofy said.

"I don't want things to get messed up"

Sora looked at Jack.

"Do you think you can handle keeping this world safe?"

Jack smiled and nodded.

"Of course. I'm the Pumpkin King and it's my duty to keep Halloween Town safe. And since you took care of Oogie Boogie , things should be alright"

Sora nodded.

"Alright then, we'll come back later to see how things are"

"Do be safe with your travels, children" Santa warned.

"I don't know who that witch is, but I do know she's very troublesome"

They didn't need to be told twice. With the way things were, they wouldn't be surprised if Akumuko appeared right then and now.

"We should get going while things have died down. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention" Riku said.

Tsukiko stroked the Moomba's head and held him close.

"Ready when you are"

Hikari tilted her head at the sight of the animal.

"You're keeping him?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded and stoked the animal's fur.

"Yeah. The doctor didn't want him and he's just so cute that I can't leave him behind. I think I'll make him my new pet"

Hikari looked at Angelo.

"Hear that, Angelo? You have a new friend"

Angelo looked at the Moomba and tilted his head this way and that. The Moomba jumped out of Tsukiko's arms and crawled over to the dog. The two of them sniffed each other, trying to see if there was anything wrong with the other. When they didn't find anything, Angelo licked the Moomba. The Moomba in turn jumped on Angelo's back and sat on him like a horse.

"Aww, they like each other" Hikari cooed.

Ankoku rolled her eyes at her other half's mushy moment and looked at Tsukiko.

"So what are you going to name him?"

Tsukiko had a gentle smile on her face, already knowing what to name her new pet.

/

"_Hey Axel, what does your name mean?"_

_Axel looked at Tsukiko strangely._

"_What brought this up?"_

_Tsukiko just shrugged as she propped herself up on the bed._

"_I just wondered if your name meant anything" she said._

"_Mine means 'moon child' and Ankoku means 'darkness'. I was wondering if you name had a meaning"_

_Axel just looked at the ceiling, lost in thought. It had been such a long time since he used his original name that he almost forgot about it. Just like everything else about his past. _

_Tsukiko stroked his arm idly._

"_I never knew what 'Axel' stood for, but I figured it stood for something that represented you like fire or something"_

_Axel cracked a smirk at her logic. _

"_Close but no cigar" he said._

"_It actually doesn't mean anything. It's just an anagram"_

_Tsukiko raised an eyebrow._

"_You mean like a codename?" _

_Axel nodded and sat up._

"_Whenever someone joins the Organization, they have an 'X' added to their name and have it mixed around. It's a way that makes us forget our past lives from when we had hearts_"

_Tsukiko sat up and draped her arms around him._

"_That's pretty stupid. What's wrong with having your old names?"_

_Axel shrugged and looked out the window. _

"_Beats me"_

_Tsukiko pressed her face into his back. _

"_So who were you before you were Axel?" she asked._

_Axel didn't say anything for a moment. It was weird that someone wanted to know who he was before he became a Nobody. No one in the Organization knew each other's original name. Aside from Saix, no one knew his real name. Not even Roxas or Ankoku. He felt like no one deserved or was trustworthy of seeing into his past. _

_Yet, when he looked at Tsukiko, he sensed he could trust her. She never barged into his personal life and never asked every little detail about it. She respected his space and felt everyone was allowed to hide a few secrets. He admired that trait about her, but he didn't want to keep any secrets from her._

"_Lea" was all he said._

_Tsukiko looked confused at the sudden outburst._

"_Huh?"_

_Axel covered her hand that was still draped over his shoulder and gave it a squeeze._

"_My name. It's Lea" he said._

_Tsukiko let this sink into her head and let it register with the man she loved most. _

"_Lea" she repeated._

"_I like it. It has a nice ring and it fits you perfectly"_

_Axel cracked a grin._

"_You're the only person who knows my real name" he said._

"_No one in the Organization save for Saix knows it"_

_Tsukiko looked shocked._

"_Not even Roxas or Ankoku?" she asked._

_Axel shook his head._

"_B-but why would you tell me and no one else?"_

_Axel turned around and cupped her face with his hand. A rare gentle smile appeared was on his face. One that only Tsukiko was allowed to see._

"_Because you're the only one I can trust in this whole world"_

/

"Lea" Tsukiko said.

"That's his name"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Lea? Where did you come up with that?"

Tsukiko wore a sad smile on her face as she looked at her necklace.

"It…holds a special meaning to me" she said.

"It's the name of someone who was very precious to me"

Hikari knew exactly who she was talking about and thought this was a perfect way to pay homage to Axel.

"_I hope you realize how lucky you were to have someone like Tsukiko, Axel" _she thought.

Many strange things had happen in Halloween Town. Tsukiko getting a new friend, Riku being able to create a Gunblade and most of all, Ultimecia and Akumuko were looking for something.

Things were starting to get very strange for our heroes and it was just going to get worse.

/

**A/N:Man what was a long chapter, but it makes up for me being absent for so long. **

**Is it bad that I found it funny to the way how Leon reacted to Riku being able to create a Gunblade? I think this just made him hate Riku even more. **

**And Tsukiko made a new friend! I thought Lea would be very fitting since it kind of looks like Axel with the hairdo and because he was so important to her. **

**Next chapter we get to see more of Laguna and Taiyouko's past together! That should be interesting.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	21. Love at second sight

Chapter 21: Love at second sight

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter so much! Hopefully you'll love this one as well! We won't be seeing Hikari or the gang a lot in this chapter, but we'll get to see Laguna and Taiyouko! I don't know why but I always enjoy writing chapters that have them in it. It's like you get to see how life was for Taiyouko before Xehanort showed up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone was pretty much worn out by the time that they made it back to the Gummi Ship. King Mickey told them about some information that he got from Mikomi and the group from Radiant Garden.

"Apparently Aerith and Kairi were able to find a few books that were in the castle Library. They said they were about sorceresses but they needed to be translated. It seemed that Ansem the Wise wrote them in a strange way"

"I wonder why grandfather would do that?" Hikari wondered.

"He probably did it for mom" Leon said.

"He didn't want anyone to know about the history of sorceresses or that she had certain powers she could wield. He probably did it to save his reputation because he was ashamed to have a sorceress for a daughter"

Hikari looked at her brother. She could hear the resentment in his voice as he talked about their grandfather. It almost sounded the same as when Taiyouko talked about him. The same hatred.

"Was mom and grandfather's relationship that bad?" she asked.

Leon nodded his head grimly.

"Very" he said.

"That was one of the reasons why she didn't want us around him. If he couldn't be a proper father to her, then how could he a proper grandparent to us? I wouldn't be surprised if she hated him still"

"Oh trust me, she did" Riku said.

Leon looked at the teenager with surprise. How would he know about his mother's hatred for his grandfather?

"And how would you know that?" he spat.

Riku laughed bitterly and he crossed his arms.

"I had to break up most of their fights" he simply said.

"I was Taiyouko's partner while we were trying to find a way to wake up Sora and Hikari from their sleep. Your grandfather was the one who helped us"

Leon paled a little. This was new information to him. He thought that Ansem the Wise perished with their world when it was taken over.

"He's alive?" he asked.

"Was" Mickey corrected.

"He gave us his life to help us defeat Xemnas from taking over Kingdom Hearts"

"But before that, he was with Taiyouko and I when we were protecting Sora and Hikari" Riku said.

"I didn't know that he and Taiyouko were related at first but when I did, I had to be the one who broke up their fights. I had never seen Taiyouko hate someone as much as she hated her dad. She hated him a lot more than she did with Xemnas. Whatever it was that Ansem the Wise did, it surely affected Taiyouko a lot. Makes me wonder if she still hates him now"

Leon sighed.

"He really wasn't the best parent figure. It was always Uncle Cid who took care of mom and I. we ended up living with him because mom couldn't take living under the same roof as grandfather. When parents bring up a child that turns out to be a sorceress, it's usually the fathers that cast them aside"

Hikari felt her heart stop when she heard those words. The fathers usually despised their child being a sorceress so could that mean her father feared her? She wouldn't know since she never knew him, but the thought of her own flesh and blood fearing her to the point of casting her aside simply broke her heart.

Laguna couldn't be like that, could he?

"I…I'm going to head to bed" she said quietly.

She got up without saying anything else, and headed towards her sleeping quarters. Everyone looked confused at her sudden disappearance but Riku wore a look of concern.

/

Hikari pressed her back into the door when she closed it. Letting out a sigh she slid to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest.

What her brother said really bothered her. What if they did find her dad and he ended up hating her when he saw her? True, her mother and grandfather had a very strained relationship but that couldn't mean all fathers were like that.

Surely Laguna could be different.

"But then again he doesn't even know that I exist" she said sadly.

Angelo had his ears back as he looked at his master. He could sense the sudden change in her mood and it made him sad as well.

A knock at her door pulled Hikari from her sadness.

"It's me" Riku called out.

"Can I come in?"

Pulling herself to her feet, Hikari stepped away from the door and let her boyfriend in. Riku came into the room and closed the door behind him. Hikari gave him a sad smile as she held her arm.

"You ok?" Riku asked.

Hikari opened her mouth to reassure him that she was, but the words couldn't leave her mouth. Instead she sighed and shook her head.

"Not really" she admitted.

Riku cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Did what Leon say bother you?" he asked.

Hikari nodded and stepped away from his touched. She went to her bed and sat on the mattress.

"A little" she said.

"I mean…what are the odds of my dad hating me? I will admit, my mom and grandfather didn't have a great relationship, but what if my dad hated me if he saw me?"

Riku went over to her and sat next to her. He gripped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"But that's the thing: you're not your mom, you can only be you. Just because your mom and grandfather didn't have a nice relationship doesn't mean that would happen with you and your dad. Every family is different, you should know that"

Hikari sighed and rubbed her face.

"I know but, he doesn't even know I exist and I didn't know about him until recently. What are the odds that somehow he's alive and we run into him and by some chance if we did see him, he would despise me when he saw me simply because I was a sorceress?"

Riku thought it over.

"Well, I would have to say those chances would be very slim" he said.

"Because we probably won't find him?" Hikari asked.

Riku shook his head.

"No, because if he knew he had a daughter, he would love you regardless. A parent will love their child no matter who or what they are"

Hikari gave him a skeptical look.

"Then what about my mom and grandfather?" she asked.

Riku laughed bitterly.

"I think Ansem the Wise did love your mom, but he could never express it properly" he admitted.

"I think he really regretted treating your mom the way he did. Sometimes when I saw him look at Taiyouko, he had this sad look to his eyes. It was as if he felt it was his fault that she got caught up in this mess with the heartless and Xehanort. Or that he should have been a better father to her"

He smiled at her and stroked her face.

"And if by some bizarre chance that we find your dad and he doesn't love you-which I highly doubt, you shouldn't be sad because you still have your brother and he'll love you no matter what"

He laughed bitterly.

"It's a pain for me to admit it, but he's a good brother to you. I can tell how much he really cares about you and he'll do anything to keep you safe. I wouldn't be surprised if he killed me just because I'm with you"

Hikari giggled a little.

"Ni-san can be a little over dramatic when it comes to me, but I understand what you mean"

She leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Thanks for cheering me up"

Riku returned the kiss and pressed his forehead against her.

"Hey, that's my job as your boyfriend"

Hikari smiled and nuzzled closer to him.

"I wish you could stay here tonight. It gets lonely when I don't have you sleeping by my side"

Riku laughed bitterly.

"I have a feeling I wouldn't live long after that. I bet your brother guards your room at night"

Hikari shrugged.

"Wishful thinking I suppose" she said.

Riku kissed her forehead and got up.

"I'll let you sleep. It's been a long day"

Hikari nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea, actually"

Riku bid her goodnight and closed the door behind him.

Hikari kicked off her boots and stretched out across the mattress. She was too tired to change into her pajamas and all she wanted to do was sleep. Angelo curled around next to her and went to sleep, resting his head on her stomach. Hikari scratched his ear and closed her eyes, letting her mind drift to slumber land.

/

_Laguna fiddled with the dress shirt he was forced to wear. It seemed that Ansem the Wise had invited Haishin for a public dinner to welcome him to Radiant Garden. Naturally, the General invited his best soldiers to show off his military power; which why Laguna was forced to go._

_Kiros swatted his hand away when he tried to loosen his collar. _

"_Stop that. You need to look your best" he said._

_Laguna pouted and crossed his arms. _

"_I don't see why we have to go to this stupid dinner" he said._

"_It's not like this Ansem guy is commemorating us. We're pretty much trophy displays or something"_

_Ward, who looked so out of place in a dress shirt and slacks simply shrugged. _

"_At least we're getting free food and booze" he said._

_Kiros nodded._

"_And I heard that Ansem guy is bringing his daughter. Maybe this could be your chance to get a girl"_

_Laguna stuck his tongue out at him._

"_I don't need you to play match maker for me" he said._

_He blushed a little as he thought of a certain green eyes beauty he met the other day._

"_Besides…I already met someone" he mumbled._

_Kiros and Ward blinked their eyes in disbelief. Laguna met someone? They rushed over to him and bombarded him with questions._

"_Really? Who?!"_

"_What does she look like?"_

"_Where did you meet her?"_

"_What's her name?"_

"_How were you able to talk to her without looking like an idiot?"_

_Laguna sweat dropped and back away from his friends. He figured they would be surprised to hear this, but not this surprised. It seemed like him talking to a girl was the same as the world ending. It was pretty big. _

"_Her name is Taiyouko" he said._

"_She's really kind and pretty. She has this smile that could melt an iceberg. She's got really beautiful green eyes. And she has a kid"_

_Kiros and Ward tilted their heads a little at that last sentence. They found it a little odd that he was so enthusiastic when he talked about a girl who already had a kid. Either he was caught up in the moment or he was plain crazy._

"_Are you sure she's not married?" Kiros asked._

_Laguna huffed and crossed his arms. He figured they would react like that when he mentioned Leon. _

"_As a matter of fact, yes" he said._

"_I didn't see a wedding ring on her finger, so I know she's not married"_

"_She could have a boyfriend" Ward pointed out._

_Laguna's posture slumped._

"_Are you trying to put me in a bad mood?"_

_Kiros and Ward held their hands up defensively. _

"_Hey, we just don't want you to see you hurt because you found a cute girl that's already been taken"_

_Laguna uncrossed his arms and placed them on his hips._

"_I can look after myself, thank you very much"_

_Ward adjusted the tight collar of his shirt with discomfort._

"_Are we going to this dinner thing or are we going to talk all night?"_

_Laguna laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. _

"_Eh, right. Sorry about that" he said._

_They left the hotel and headed towards the restaurant where they were supposed to meet their general. The dinner was held at one of the finest restaurants in Radiant Garden. The only people who usually came here were the high ups or people celebrating something. _

_Ward whistled lowly at the place. _

"_It's going to be a long night" Kiros said. _

_Haishin came over to them with a drink in hand. It was obvious that he had been drinking a bit since his face was rosy. _

"_Ah, there you are!" he said a little too loudly. _

_Laguna cringed when Haishin came over and slapped his back a little too hard. _

"_I was wondering when you three would show up" Haishin slurred._

"_Come. I want you to meet the leader of Radiant Garden. He's a very smart man and I'm sure he'll help us find the Sorceress" _

_He ushered them towards a regal looking man wearing a lab coat with a red scarf around his neck. He didn't appear to be pleased with Haishin's semi-drunken state with the scowl on his face. This scowl softened however when Laguna and his friends came over._

"_Ansem, these are my top soldiers that I was talking about" Haishin said._

"_Men, this is Ansem the Wise. The Ruler of Radiant Garden"_

_Laguna grinned sheepishly and offered his hand. _

"_It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Lguna Lorie and these are my friends Kiros and War. Thank you for letting us stay on your world while we track down a sorceress"_

_Ansem looked surprised at his brash yet cheerful persona. He accepted his hand and gave it a shake._

"_At least there are a few gentlemen here that show proper military manners" _

_He sent a scowl and Haishin's direction._

"_Although I can't say the same for others"_

_Laguna laughed nervously._

"_Always keeping the peace, sir" he said._

_Ansem nodded in acknowledgment at that._

"_Father"_

_Ansem turned around when he heard someone call for him. Laguna almost yelped when he saw Taiyouko walking towards them. She looked stunning in her white cocktail dress and having her hair pulled back by a yellow bandana. She would have looked beautiful if it wasn't for the sour look on her face. It was obvious that she wasn't happy here. _

"_Father, how long must you keep me here?" she asked. _

"_I need to check up on Leon"_

_Ansem scowled at his daughter. He couldn't take her to one public dinner without her humiliating him. He didn't know why he still bothered._

_He cleared his throat and looked at Laguna._

"_You'll have to excuse my daughter. It seems she hasn't learned how to talk in front of company"_

_Taiyouko glared at her father and tapped her foot._

"_This is my daughter, Taiyouko. Taiyouko, this is Laguna Lorie"_

_When Taiyouko saw him, she was surprised. She knew him as the man she saw at the fountains when she and Leon went on an outing. _

_Kiros and Ward noticed this and concluded that they met before._

_Laguna dumbly held his hand out to Taiyouko. He never expected the girl that he met at the fountain would be the daughter of this world's leader. _

"_N-nice to meet you" he said._

_Taiyouko accepted his hand and slowly shook it._

"_The pleasure is all mine" she replied._

_Laguna blushed a little. This was too good to be true. The girl that he just met was going to have dinner with him. Even if she wasn't happy to be here, he was. Now he could talk with a recognizable face._

_Haishin laughed and held up his fifth drink._

"_Now that we're all acquainted, let's get down to business"_

_Ansem sighed and closed his eyes to suppress a headache. _

"_Very well. Come along, Taiyouko" he ordered._

_Taiyouko rolled her eyes and followed her father like a lost puppy. _

_Kiros and Ward walked up to the stunned Laguna who still had his hand out._

"_Judging by your reaction, that was probably the girl you met before?" Kiros asked._

_Laguna nodded like an idiot._

_Ward scratched his head._

"_Well, I'll admit that she's pretty. But she looks way too young to be a mom" he stated._

_Laguna ignored him and simply watched Taiyouko. The poor thing had to follow her father around and was shown off as some kind of trophy. _

'_She must deal with this a lot' Laguna thought._

_/_

_The rest of the night went by uneventful. Haishin discussed about what to do with the Sorceress issue while Ansem listened. He wasn't actually listening but just nodded his head to make it look like he did. _

_Taiyouko dully talked to a few of the soldiers that came to the dinner. It seemed like the more they became drunk, the more annoyed she became. _

"_She doesn't look too happy" Ward commented._

"_Would you be if you had to hear a bunch of drunk soldiers talking about useless stuff?" Kiros asked._

_Laguna watched Taiyouko from where he was sitting. He had been watching the poor girl talk to one drunk after another. He felt bad that she had to entertain everyone and listen to their stupid stories about battles they fought and how the loved to fight. It made him fortunate that he had a weak stomach when it came to alcohol and preferred water. _

_Kiros watched in amusement as Laguna tapped his fingers across the table in a nervous manner while looking at Taiyouko. He could tell that the gunner really wanted to talk to Taiyouko and found it stupid that he didn't._

"_Just go talk to her already" he said._

_Laguna looked surprised but shook his head._

"_No way. Can't you see she's busy talking to someone else? It would be rude"_

"_I'm sure she would prefer talking to someone who's sober and not someone who looks like they're on the verge of alcohol poisoning" Ward said. _

_Laguna bit his lip and looked at Taiyouko._

"_Should I?" he asked._

"_Wouldn't hurt to try" Kiros shrugged._

_Laguna thought about it for a moment and stood up._

"_Alright, I will" he said._

"_Try not to talk her ear off" Kiros said._

"_And don't act like an idiot" Ward added._

_Laguna made a face at them._

"_Thanks for looking out for me" he said sarcastically._

'"_Hey, we just don't want you looking like an idiot" Kiros said._

"_It affects our image too"_

_Laguna made a face and stalked off. _

'_Don't worry, I'll show them' he thought. _

_He gulped as he got closer to Taiyouko._

'_I'll prove to them that I can talk to a girl without humiliating myself. I'll just act mainly and gracefully walk up to her and say hi. And if that all goes well, she'll start talking to me'._

_He could feel his heart beating fast as he got closer._

'_But…she's so pretty and popular here. I wonder if she'll even talk to me. What if she thinks I'm boring or annoying?'_

_He quickly shook that thought aside and continued forward._

'_I won't know until I talk to her! C'mon Laguna! Be a man!'_

_He got all confidant when he approached her. Her back was still turned to him, but that would all change once he spoke up. _

_Taking a deep breath, he rehearsed what he was going to say in his head and made sure it didn't sound stupid. However, before he could utter a word his left leg started cramping up. _

_The gunner cringed and gripped his leg when it became too hard for him to stand._

'_No!' he thought._

'_My leg's cramping up! C'mon Laguna, you can do this. You have too!'_

_However, the pain in his leg flared up again. Hanging his head in shame, he limped back over to the table where his friends were. _

_Kiros snickered when Laguna sat down dejectedly._

"_Nice going, Laguna" he chuckled._

"_I didn't think you'd actually do it" Ward admitted._

"_I think our popularity rate has gone up a point"_

"_Yeah, but you cut a pretty pitiable figure up there" Kiros said._

"_I'd say you're about a negative three on the manliness scale"_

_Laguna glared at them._

"_Oh shut up. At least I tried" he said._

_He sighed sadly._

"_She sure does look pretty. I'm sure she's going to get everyone's attention tonight"_

_As he was acting all depressed, Kiros spotted someone coming towards them._

"_Oh?"_

_Ward saw this and smirked. He looked at Kiros and nodded before they quickly stood up._

"_Laguna, we're going to go" Kiros said._

"_Drinks are on us" Ward added._

_Laguna looked at them, why they were acting strange so suddenly._

'_I wonder what's up with them?' he thought._

_He got his answer when someone approached him._

"_May I have a seat?"_

_Laguna turned around to see Taiyouko standing in front of him. The poor man nearly had a heart attack when he jumped in surprise._

'_Holy cow! She's really standing in front of me!' he thought._

'_Remember Laguna, act cool'_

_Taiyouko tilted her head slightly._

'_Is something wrong?" she asked._

_Laguna quickly shook his head._

"_N-n-no! Not at all!" he cried._

"_P-please, h-have a seat"_

_He moved over so Taiyouko could sit next to him. The young woman smoothed her dress before looking at him._

"_Better?" she asked._

_Laguna nodded like an idiot. He was so afraid of saying something to her, fearing that he would look like an idiot. He knew he had to say something to break the silence._

_Taiyouko was the one who spoke first._

"_How's your leg?" she asked._

_Laguna blushed with embarrassment. _

"_Y-you saw that?" he asked._

_Taiyouko nodded, smiling a little._

_Laguna laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. _

"_Oh, I-I'm fine" he said._

"_Happens all the time when I get nervous"_

_Taiyouko tilted her head._

"_You were nervous?"_

_Laguna nodded._

"_Y-yeah, a little" he said._

"_I mean-I'm still kinda…it's just, you uh…well, you're the first girl that I've actually talked to…and I um, don't' really know what to say, and um…"_

_Taiyouko giggled and smiled at him._

"_That's really cute" she said._

_Laguna gulped and blushed. No one had thought his leg cramps were cute. Not even him. _

_Taiyouko gently grasped his hand and gave it a squeeze._

"_Relax" she said._

"_You don't have to be nervous around me. I don't bite"_

_Laguna relaxed a little as he sat casually in his seat. He was surprised by how cheerful she was when moments ago she looked like she could rip someone's head off. _

_He took a quick sip of his water before giving her a nervous smile._

"_S-so…are you enjoying yourself tonight?" he asked._

_Taiyouko gave him a fake smile._

"_As much as one can when they're being forced to come to a dinner and socialize with drunks" she said._

_Laguna cringed at the tone._

"_Sounds like fun" he said sarcastically._

_Taiyouko snorted._

"_Oh, it's the best. I especially love talking to drunks soldiers and trying to understand what they say"_

_She gave him a rueful smile._

"_But I'm surprised to see you sober" she said._

"_I figured a big wig soldier like yourself would be on his tenth drink by now"_

_Laguna smiled bashfully._

"_Nah, I'm good with water. And alcohol makes me really sick" he said._

"_Besides, what's wrong with being sober?"_

_Taiyouko giggled and held up her drink._

"_Here's to being sober" she said. _

_They both clinked glasses and laughed at how silly it was. _

"_So how do you like Radiant Garden so far?" Taiyouko asked._

_Laguna smiled bashfully._

"_It's really great. It's the prettiest world I've been to so far. I can't imagine a sorceress ever being here"_

_Taiyouko laughed darkly and sipped her drink. Her fingers turned white as she gripped the glass rather hard. _

"_You'd be surprised to what lurks around here" she said._

_She quickly put on a smile to cover up the dark thoughts she was thinking._

"_But let's avoid such gruesome topics. What about you? Do you enjoy being a soldier and saving the world?"_

_Now it was Laguna's turn to laugh weakly. He had heard this all the time from people he met. They always thought that it was amazing that he got to fight battles and save people all the time. To some it was amazing but to him it wasn't. What was so great about taking another person's life? Nothing, that's what._

"_Not really" he admitted._

"_I don't really like to fight. I just can't stand the thought of taking someone's life"_

_Taiyouko looked surprised. This wasn't the answer she was expecting from a soldier._

"_If you don't mind me asking, then why did you become a soldier?"_

_Laguna shrugged as if he didn't know himself._

"_Well…I guess it was because I was young and naïve when I joined and I really wanted to travel. And it's not so bad since I have Kiros and Ward with me. Everything's fun when they're around"_

_A bright smile came to his face._

"_Although, I really want to quit the army and become a journalist" he said excitedly._

"_I'd be able to travel and tell people about all of the things I've seen from my travels in the army. It's something that I've always dreamed of doing"_

_He blushed when he realized that he said too much and bowed his head._

"_S-sorry, I guess I said too much"_

_Taiyouko smiled and shook her head._

"_Don't be. It's good to be passionate about your dreams in life. All you have to do is take the next step"_

_Laguna rubbed his neck nervously._

"_Well, I would but…"_

_He looked over to where Haishin and some of his men were getting louder as they drank more. The manager looked like he was about to throw them all out._

_Taiyouko scoffed and waved him off._

"_Forget about what he thinks. He's not your dad, he has no control over how you want to live your life. If there's something you want to do, then go do it"_

_Laguna blinked a few times at what Taiyouko said. She plainly told his general off and told him that he should follow his dream. He didn't know if he should be worried or amazed that she said that. _

_Taiyouko blushed when she calmed down and cleared her throat._

"_Sorry for saying that, but I hate it when people throw away their dreams simply because someone else doesn't like it. We're all adults here, we can make our own decisions"_

_Laguna laughed good heartedly._

"_Hey, at least I have someone who supports my dreams"_

_Taiyouko nodded to show her support._

"_Now all you have to do is show your talent" she explained._

"_And what better way than to start now? If you want, I can help you!"_

_Laguna jumped a little._

"_R-really? Y-you'd really help me?"_

_Taiyouko nodded._

"_Our local newspaper is looking for someone who can write stories about places around here. You can always apply for the job and write stories when you're not hunting. This could be a great way for you to start your dream"_

_Laguna was touched. He had barely met t this woman and she was willing to help him achieve his dream. And the best part was that she didn't find him strange or that his random legs cramps to be annoying. She was perfect!_

"_You got yourself a new journalist" Laguna said._

_Taiyouko smiled brightly._

"_Yay!" she cheered._

_Laguna laughed along with her. He didn't know why but he really enjoyed the way she laughed and how he was able to make her smile. He could hear it many times and never get tired of it._

_After talking to this amazing woman for nearly over an hour, he found himself feeling bold enough to ask if he could see her again. If he could make it this far in one night, what are the odds about a second one?_

"_Hey, Taiyouko?" he asked._

"_Do you think that it's possible if I could see you again?"_

_Taiyouko thought for a moment which felt like the longest moment to Laguna._

'_Please say yes. Please say yes' he thought._

_Taiyouko smiled and nodded._

"_I'd love to" she said._

_Laguna could have sworn he felt his stomach hit the floor._

"_Really?!" he squeaked. He quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment._

_Taiyouko laughed at the scene and nodded again._

"_Of course. You're a very funny guy. Why wouldn't I want to see you again? I usually take Leon to the park so if you don't get lost you're more than welcome to come"_

_Laguna was thrilled. A girl actually wanted to spend time with him! It was like a dream come true. If he was this excited at the thought of seeing Taiyouko again, he could only image what it would be like when it actually happened._

/

Hikari stirred in her sleep, the memory playing over and over in her head like an old movie. A small crept over her face as she dreamt on. Seeing how her parents starting to get to know each other made her very happy.

Who would have thought that one little encounter could lead to something so big? She could only imagine because thanks to that meeting it lead to her being on this world and being able to share a similar experience with Riku.

"_I hope I can find you one day, dad" _she thought as she drifted deeper into slumber land.

/

**A/N: And that's how Taiyouko and Laguna got to know each other. I played around with the scene from Final Fantasy 8 where Laguna is talking to Julia Heartilly and instead had him talking to Taiyouko! **

**I know that most of this chapter was a flashback but I wanted to put in a 'filler' before we go onto the next world. **

**I hope you guys like seeing Taiyouko and Laguna together!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	22. Atlantica

Chapter 22: Atlantica holding clues

**A/N: Hey everyone! School has started up for me again, but that doesn't mean I won't have time to update! I want to thank you all for sticking with me even though updating this story has taken a while. Not only because of school but it's also hard to brainstorm what I should write next for this story since it's a working process as I go on. So I want to apologize if this story is not as good as the others in this series. Once we get to Re: Coded and Dream Drop Distance, it should be epic again. **

**But on the upside, we get to see a lot of Ankoku in this chapter. It's always funny when she's around, right?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

The number one rule that any traveler should know when they go off on an adventure is to make sure you stay safe. It didn't matter if you knew where you were going or if you would follow your instincts, you never let your guard down. Danger lurked at every corner, no matter how safe your path looked.

Always expect the unexpected.

Mickey kept telling himself that as he steered everyone to their next destination. Being King meant he always had to keep an eye out for danger. It was a King's duty to protect his subjects and keep them out of harm's way. His friends were no different. They showed him how far they were willing to go to protect the worlds from darkness and risk their lives if they had to. That determination always something Mickey favored. With the worlds in danger from darkness, he needed as much bravery as he needed.

Now was no different.

The path that they were taking in the Lanes in Between were dark and eerie. It was as if no one had traveled this way in a long time.

"I don't remember us ever taking this route when we traveled between worlds" Hikari said.

Mickey never took his eyes off the path as he carefully steered them along.

"That's because this is one of the secret paths" he explained.

"It's like a shortcut to reach other worlds"

Ankoku watched as meteors and various space rocks floated a little too close to the ship.

"And when you mean by shortcut, do you mean a quicker way for us to die?" she asked.

"This path is full of rocks and meteors. What's wrong with taking the normal route? It's a lot safer and less likely for us to die from crashing into something"

Mickey shook his head.

"We can't risk taking the main routes. Those routes tend to be a lot easier for the enemy to pass through. And since we don't know how Ultimecia and Akumuko are traveling, I can't risk us being caught"

"Do you even know where you're doing?" Sora asked.

Mickey didn't say anything which made everyone uncomfortable.

"Great, we're lost and we're gonna die" Ankoku said.

Hikari gave her chiding look.

"Now, now. I'm sure his majesty knows exactly what he's doing. We'll be fine"

The Gummi ship jolted, causing everyone to fumble inside.

"Or maybe not"

The ship bumped into a few of the debris in the lanes. The farther they went the more cluttered their way got. It was hard for Mickey to weave out of the way without hitting the ship against the smaller rocks.

"Can you try not to hit all of the smaller things while you're trying to avoid the big ones?" Tsukiko asked.

Mickey swung the ship around a nasty looking rock and dove out of the way of another one.

"Easier said than done" he said.

"The ship can handle a few dents"

"Oh yeah well can it handle that?" Leon asked.

He pointed out the window where a very large meteor was coming towards their way. Mickey panicked and gripped the steering wheel tightly, jerking it rather harshly to the side. Everyone fumbled from the motion and held onto something for dear life. The Gummi ship scraped against the side of the meteor, taking part of the side panel with it. Alarms started blaring telling everyone that the ship was damaged.

Mickey checked the panel to see how bad the damage was. Everything seemed to be fine and no serious damage was done, but if they didn't fix up the ship soon, things would turn bad.

"We need to take care of this fast" he said.

"How close are we to another world?" Riku asked.

"About a couple minutes" Mickey said.

"I don't know which one but it's better than none at this point"

"Well hurry up, we don't know how long the Gummi Ship will hold" Tsukiko said.

Mickey went as fast as he could in the Gummi Ship's condition to the world so they could reach safety.

/

Water was everywhere that they could see when they landed. Mickey landed the ship in a shallow part of the ocean that was near a small beach. As soon as they landed, he ran out of the top hatch of the ship to see how bad the damage was. The outer frame of one of the wings was completely ripped off causing sparks to shoot out every now and then and smoke to come venting out.

The King cringed that the sight. He was thankful that the damage wasn't so bad but he knew that he couldn't leave the ship like this. He could fix the ship if he knew how, but luckily they had someone on board who knew.

"Leon, Cid taught you how to build Gummi Ships, right?"

The gunblade master nodded.

"More or less, he thought it would be a good idea in case we got separated from the heartless invasion" he said.

That was good enough for Mickey.

"Think you'd be able to fix the ship?"

Leon studied the mess and nodded.

"I should, but we need something to cover up the panel that was ripped off. It's too dangerous to leave it open like that"

"Oh, that's just great" Ankoku said sarcastically.

"We crash land in the middle of the ocean and we need to find parts. Where are we supposed to find this material, under water?"

Sora scanned the area, trying to figure out where they were. He could have sworn that he had seen this area before but wanted to make sure. Looking out to the horizon he spotted a familiar red and white castle not too far from where they crashed.

It was Prince Eric's castle!

"I know where we are! We're in Atlantica!"

Hikari gave him a skeptical look.

"Sora, Atlantica is underwater. We're above it"

Sora shook his head and pointed towards the castle.

"No, look! That's Prince Eric's castle-the guy Ariel wanted to be with"

It suddenly dawned on Hikari that Sora was right and that they were on a familiar world.

"You're right. Maybe she can help us"

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, she had that grotto filled with stuff from the human world. Maybe she'll have something that could help us fix the ship"

Hikari nodded at the idea.

"It's worth a shot. And I'm sure there's other stuff near the ship graveyard"

She walked over to the top hatch to climb out.

"I'll go take a look and see what I can find" she said.

"You better not be going by yourself" Leon warned.

Hikari huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Of course I won't. I know better than to go off on my own. I'll take Riku with me"

Leon growled.

"You're not going alone with him" he said.

Riku rolled his eyes secretly at being labeled the bad guy once again. Didn't he already show that he was willing to risk his life to keep Hikari safe? He saw him save her back at Halloween Town.

Hikari didn't like her brother acting negative towards Riku either and glared at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you that Riku isn't bad at all, Ni-san? You've seen how he acts towards me. You can't go with me since you're needed to help fix the ship and Riku is my knight so it's out of the question. Either you put this behind you or we'll be stuck in the middle of the ocean"

Everyone gave Leon a knowing look. They were starting to get tired of how he was treating Riku and they agreed that this wasn't the best time to be bickering about Hikari's love life.

Sighing, he held the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, fine. He can go with you" he grumbled.

Hikari wore a little victorious smirk when she saw that she won.

"Thank you. See how easy that was?"

Leon gave her a warning look.

"He can go with you…but on one condition" he said.

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, and what would that be?"

/

"How the hell did I get stuck in this mess?" Ankoku spat.

The three of them were standing on top of the Gummi Ship getting ready to dive in. It was agreed that if Riku went with Hikari to search for parts then Ankoku had to go with.

The nobody was not happy at all about this arrangement and neither was Riku.

"_Oh second thought, I'd rather deal with Leon" _he thought.

Hikari wore a nervous grin when the two of them were giving each other sour looks.

"I know you don't like the way this was set up but Sora needs to help Ni-san with the ship and Tsukiko can't go into the water since has control over Axel's fire powers. And she needs to take care of Angelo and Lea since I doubt they could swim underwater for very long"

Ankoku scoffed and crossed her arms.

"I still don't see why I have to be stuck with him. It's bad enough that I have to see him everyday on the islands"

Riku gave her a dull look.

"Yeah, well you weren't my first pick either so it looks like we finally have something in common" he said sarcastically.

Ankoku glared at him and flipped him off.

"Keep it up pretty boy, I'll feed you to the sharks" she threatened.

"In your dreams" Riku said back.

"Alright, enough you two" Hikari said.

"We don't have much time so could you two please put your differences aside for the time being?"

Riku and Ankoku looked at each other and scowled.

"Fine" they grumbled.

Hikari nodded and held her hands out to them.

"I don't think you're clothes hold any magic properties to them so I'll have to lend you some of mine. Otherwise you two won't last underwater for very long"

The two of them gingerly grabbed her hands and looked at the water.

"Ok, on the count of three" Hikari said.

"One…two…three!"

They held their breath and dived into the water where the enchanted kingdom under the sea resided.

/

The feeling of changing into a mermaid still excited Hikari as she transformed. Looking at her fins, she laughed as she swam around, getting used to the feeling of her new body.

Everything looked the same as last time. Nothing was out of place and not a single heartless or fiend were present.

Everything was peaceful.

"Hey! How the hell are we supposed to move around in these bodies?!" Ankoku snapped.

Hikari watched as her boyfriend and twin attempted to stay upright in their new bodies but failed miserably.

Ankoku looked a lot like Hikari where she had a black tail with silver fins but had a dark blue clam top. Riku's tail was a light aquamarine color that made his eyes pop out more than usual.

While both looked good in their mermaid forms, they sure didn't know how to use them.

She swam over to them and grabbed their hands to hold them upright.

"Here, you need to move like this" she explained.

She showed them how to swim properly and after a few test runs, they were able to swim a little bit better.

"Now I know why Xemnas never wanted us to do missions here" Ankoku spat.

Hikari gave her a sympathetic smile.

"We'll try to make this quick so you don't have to suffer"

Ankoku rolled her eyes and slowly swam around.

"So where are we supposed to go? It'll be like finding a needle in a haystack with how open this ocean is. It'll probably take us days just to find a small scrap of metal"

"Then we better not waste any time then" Riku said.

He really wasn't enjoying this merman form but he wouldn't say anything about it. He just needed to find the parts and then they could leave this world fast.

"I know where we can find some things for the ship" Hikari said.

She swam ahead, knowing that she was the only one who knew where to go here.

"We can find some things in the ship graveyard. Ariel said she always found interesting things" she explained.

Ankoku and Riku swam after her, still finding it strange to have a tail instead of legs.

"If you make fun of how I'm swimming, I'll feed you to a shark" Ankoku spat.

Riku sighed and continued swimming.

"I'm more concerned of how I'm swimming so don't worry" he said.

Ankoku sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I already hate this world" she groaned.

"You hate pretty much everything" Riku pointed out.

"Well then you should already know that I hate you more than anyone else"

"Anyone could have figured that out. You may act tough but you're easy to read. Nothing can get past me"

"Oh really? I find that hard to believe since you had such a hard time tracking down Roxas before he went back to Sora"

Hikari looked over her shoulder and gave them a nasty glare.

"Hey! I said no bickering while we're here. You can fight after when we fix the ship, but until then you two knock it off"

Ankoku scowled at being told off but kept quiet. She knew better than to upset Hikari. The young sorceress was known to have a temper every once in a while.

"So what do you expect us to find in this shipwreck graveyard?" Riku asked.

Hikari shrugged, not having a good answer.

"Anything really. I know some of the older ships have cannons still attached to them so we could the metal from those. And there's always the metal hinges and frames that made up the ships. Anything will work at this point"

"Do you think this will work?" Ankoku asked.

Hikari shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's better than nothing"

"Let's just hope we can find enough to fix the ship"

They made their way through crevices and paths that the ocean created. If one didn't know where they were going, it would be like swimming through a maze. They didn't see any fiends roaming around but they were still careful. The ocean had its own enemies to deal with.

"We're not gonna run into any sharks are we?" Ankoku asked.

"Because I really don't feel like becoming shark chow"

"You're a perfectly capable fighter, I doubt a little shark will be a problem for you" Riku said.

Hikari kept her mouth shut as she scanned the sea. She hoped that they didn't run into any sharks but she remembered that they tended to hang around the ship graveyard. They would be lucky if they were able to pass by without being noticed.

The shipwreck graveyard was eerie and quiet. Like any other graveyard, not a single soul was seen. Not even plants grew around the ships. It was as if the presence of these fallen ships had sucked the life out of this part of the ocean.

"Ok, this is just plain creepy" Ankoku said.

"This looks like the perfect place for us to get killed or eaten"

Hikari sighed at her nobody's complaining and carefully swam near the ships. She didn't know if a shark would be lurking in the ruined holds and didn't want to take her chances. She learned that the hard way when she first came to this world.

Scanning the ships, she found that a few of them still had cannons still attached to them. Some were a little bit rusted from being underwater for so long but a little magic would be able to clean them up.

Riku helped Hikari pull out the cannons since it would have been impossible for her to do it on her own.

"I wonder how old these cannons are? They look like they belong from a different era" Riku observed.

"They certainly do" Hikari said.

"The ocean seems to have its own timeline down here. You can find things from just about any time and anywhere"

When they successfully got the cannon off the ship, they realized another problem they had to face: how were they going to bring it back to the ship?

"Oh that's just great" Ankoku spat.

"We swam all this way to find a bunch of scrap metal and we can't even bring it back. This day just keeps getting better and better"

"I don't suppose you have any ideas of how we can make this easier?"Riku asked.

The nobody shrugged.

"You're asking the wrong nobody. I only see things happening, I don't make them happen"

Hikari sighed and banged her head against the loose cannon.

"Now what are we going to do? It's not like we can just get someone strong enough to bring the cannon to the ship"

"AHHHHH!"

The three of them jumped when they heard screaming and feared for the worst.

"Sharks?" Riku asked.

"I don't think so, but I don't like the sound of those screams" Hikari said.

Ankoku summoned her keyblades without any hesitation.

"I'll go check. Stay here with the cannon"

She swam around the other side of the ship. Taking a steady breath, she let out a battle cry and faced their foe. The only thing was that it wasn't an enemy at all. It was just a little yellow fish and a crab.

"What the?"

The fish and crab yelped before they backed away from her.

"P-please, don't hurt us!" the fish pleaded.

"Yeah, we don't want to cause any trouble" the crab added.

Ankoku tilted her head in confusion at the crab and fish. Just what in the world was going on?

Hikari recognized those voices and gasped with joy.

"I know those two!"

She quickly swam to Ankoku and was thrilled to see Sebastian and Flounder.

"Flounder! Sebastian!"

The crab and fish stopped shaking when they heard Hikari's voice. They too wore similar expressions on their faces when they saw her.

"Hikari? Is that you?" Flounder asked.

Sebastian cried for joy and swam to her.

"Thank Neptune! I thought we would be made into sea chum"

"Ankoku tends to give off a killing vibe whenever she's in a bad mood" Riku stated.

Ankoku glared at him.

"Maybe you're right. Want me to use you as an example?" she taunted.

Hikari sighed and felt introductions were in order.

"This is my 'twin' Ankoku and my boyfriend, Riku. Guys, this is Flounder and Sebastian. They're a couple of friends Sora and I made while we were here"

Everyone said their hellos and became acquainted with each other. It was nice to see their sea creature friends . The last time that she saw them was that big concert the palace put together. She could still remember the song she sang as her heart song.

"So what brings you here on this fine day under the sea?" Sebastian asked.

Hikari laughed nervously and explained their situation with the Gummi Ship and why they were in the shipwreck graveyard.

"And we thought that if we use the metal from the cannons that could patch up our ship but now we need to figure out how to get it there. We were trying to figure that out until we found you two"

"Speaking of which, what are a couple little shrimps like you doing out here?" Ankoku asked.

"I highly doubt you would come here for fun"

Flounder fiddled with his fins for a moment before he spoke.

"Things have been fine here, but lately King Triton has noticed strange things happening in Ursula's lair" he said.

"We thought that somehow she came back but the lair is empty. Sebastian and I decided to look into it ourselves but we didn't see anyone"

"But we did heard a strange noise" Sebastian said.

"We were too scared to see who it was and swam away and bumped into you"

That disturbed the group a little. Who would be hanging around Ursula's abandoned lair?

"How recently has this been happening?" Riku asked.

"For a few days now" Flounder said.

"It looked like whoever was there, they were looking for something because stuff was thrown all over the place"

Hikari looked at the direction to where Ursula's lair resided. She had a feeling that she knew who would be snooping around but she hoped that she was wrong.

"Why don't we get out of here and bring you back to the castle?" she offered.

"We need to ask King Triton something as well so we can all go together"

Sebastian and Flounder looked relieved at the idea that they wouldn't have to head back on their own.

With the cannon placed safely on the sea floor to be picked up for later the three heroes headed back to Atlantica with hopes of getting some answers and maybe some help.

/

Trumpets blared at the arrival of the king under the sea.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the ruler of the sea, King Triton!" Sebastian announced.

Hikari quickly bowed when she saw the King, knowing that he could have a temper at times. His many arguments with Ariel were proof.

The king looked surprised to see Hikari without Sora but was pleased to see her none the less.

"Well, it's been a while since I've last seen you" he said.

"I hope nothing bad has happened here that would require your attention"

Hikari shook her head and explained their situation like she did with Sebastian and Flounder.

"Do you by any chance know how we can get those cannons to our ship? Even with our magic, it would be impossible for us to carry it across the sea floor"

King Triton mulled over everything Hikari said. He knew that she wasn't a liar and wouldn't want to cause trouble on purpose. She had helped his world out many times before, the least he could do was help her in return.

"I'd be more than happy to help you, but I wish to ask of something from you in return" he said.

Hikari nodded. If he was willing to help them fix their ship then she was all ears. Plus she had a feeling she knew what he was going to say.

"I have no doubt that Sebastian and Flounder have told you what has been going on recently here in Atlantica. I sense trouble brewing within Ursula's lair and I would like to get to the bottom of this issue before it becomes worse. Since you tend to deal with these kind of matters, I ask that you go to the abandoned lair and see who is causing trouble. Do this for me and I will help you fix your ship"

Hikari looked at Riku and Ankoku. They had never dealt with issues regarding Ursula and her trouble making, so she didn't know if they would be up to it. Plus they were still trying to get used to swimming underwater.

They nodded without hesitation. If something was going on, it was their job to fix it.

"We'll do it" Ankoku said.

King Triton sighed with relief.

"It pleases me to hear that you'll get to the bottom of this. You've proven time and again that you can keep this world safe so I have no doubt you'll have trouble this time. I wish you good luck and I shall see you back at your ship"

Hikari bowed to him in return.

"Thank you again, King Triton. We'll get to the bottom of this"

They quickly left the throne room so they could find out who was causing trouble in the old lair.

/

"I think I've noticed a pattern that's started since we ever started this journey" Ankoku said.

"It seems like whenever we go to a new world and we run into one of your old friends, we end up doing all of the dirty work for them and end up getting nothing out of it. Why do we keep doing this when all we get out of it is bruises and questions?"

"Because it's our duty as keyblade wielders to protect the hearts of others" Hikari said.

"If we didn't help those in need, they would start to lose hope, and if they started thinking poorly, the darkness in their hearts would spread and lure the heartless. Even if the end results are not rewarding, it's nice knowing that we at least helped someone and kept their spirits high"

Ankoku rolled her eyes at the little sappy speech. This is why she and Hikari were polar opposites.

"So is there anything we should know about before we enter an abandoned lair?" Riku asked.

Hikari thought back to when she was last in Ursula's lair and all of the little details about it.

"Nothing that I can think of. There is this large cauldron in the middle that could cause some damage if you throw things in it. But other than that nothing really"

She went over to where the secret button was that kept Ursula's lair hidden. Pressing it, the wall next to it opened up revealing a dark, creepy pathway.

"Yeah, this has trouble written all over it" Ankoku said.

"Let's just hope nothing is waiting for us on the other side" Riku said and summoned his keyblade.

The girls followed his example and carefully swam through the narrow pathway that lead to the old lair. Everything was creepy and eerie as they swam. It was worse than when they entered the shipwreck graveyard because they knew bad things had happened within this lair.

Hikari could still feel Ursula's presence around the place. It was as if the darkness within her heart was so vast that is seeped into everything that represented her.

It was obvious that something came to the lair because items were scattered all over the place. Potion bottles were knocked over while ingredients were littered on the ocean floor.

Ankoku scanned the cabinets seeing if there was anything out of the ordinary about them.

"What could be here that someone would make a complete mess of the place?" she asked.

"Ursula used to work for Maleficent so obviously whoever was here wasn't looking for a souvenir" Riku said.

"She must have had something that was important"

What Riku said made sense. Nobody would be sane enough to enter a witch's lair just for the fun of it.

They figured whatever it was that Ursula had, it either had something to do with Kingdom Hearts, or using the power of darkness. Ankoku got fed up and started chucking things out of cabinets and had them smash on the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" Riku yelled as he ducked from a flying bottle.

Ankoku ignored him and continued making an even bigger mess than before.

"What is it with witches having so much crap?" she asked.

"Honestly, they're like magical hoarders or something. You'll find just about anything in here"

Hikari picked up some of the bottles that rolled around the floor. When she grabbed a bottle, her hand ran across something thin a rough.

"Huh?"

Looking at her hand, she found an old, worn out looking piece of paper simply resting on the ground. Finding it very odd that a piece of paper would still be intact under the ocean for this long, Hikari picked it up and looked at what was written on it.

The paper almost looked it was a blueprint of some kind. There were diagrams that showed certain parts to a machine and how they functioned. There was writing scribbled on various parts of the page, some of them even overlapped each other making it hard to read. But the one thing that stood out was the bold letters that were on top of the paper.

**Operation Sun Child**

This was very strange indeed. Why would the blueprints to a machine wind up in the ocean's of Atlantica?

"Riku, Ankoku. I found something"

The two of them swam over and looked at the blueprint with the same amount of confusion as Hikari had.

"What the hell is Operation Sun Child?" Ankoku asked.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look good with the way this machine is built" Riku said.

"It almost looks like something Ansem the Wise made when he tried to destroy Kingdom Hearts"

It also looked a lot like the machine Xehanort made to create heartless back at Radiant Garden. Was this another device that could create the heartless?

"Why would Ursula have this?" Hikari asked.

"I don't see her ever using such a device"

"Oh, I don't think it was her that was planning on using it" Ankoku said.

"What makes you say that?" Riku asked.

Ankoku wore a grim expression on her face when she produced a very familiar throwing knife. Akumuko's knife.

"I found this resting by one of the cabinets full of potions" she said.

"I guess we figured out who was snooping around here and causing a ruckus"

Hikari took the knife and examined it. She could just picture it. Akumuko probably knew about these blueprints and came down to Urusla's lair to snatch them, but when she found them that's when Flounder and Sebastian came to check what was going on and dropped it when she fled.

"This is probably what she was looking for" Ankoku said.

"Remember when I mentioned that she and Ultimecia were looking for something back at Beast's Castle? This is probably it. Whatever this is, I doubt it does anything good"

Hikari looked at the blueprint a bit more and agreed with Ankoku. If Ultimecia got her hands on these, it could bring something bad.

"We need to bring this back to Ni-san" she said.

"He might know what this machine is used for"

"Sounds like a plan, now let's get the hell out of here" Ankoku said.

She darted out of the lair, not caring if Hikari or Riku were following her.

"I guess she doesn't like this world" Riku said.

Hikari shrugged and followed after Ankoku. Now that they figured out who was snooping around in Ursula's lair, they didn't see the need to stay any longer.

"I hope Leon was able to fix the ship" Riku said.

Hikari cringed as she thought of something.

"I hope he didn't start a fight with King Triton"

/

When they made it to the ship they found King Triton welding a piece of metal to the ship using his trident. Leon and Sora double checked to see if the metal would hold before they deemed that the ship was good as new.

Goofy spotted them swimming back to the ship and smiled.

"Hey, fellas! Did you find anything while you were down there?"

Hikari nodded and pulled out the blueprint that they found.

"We figured out who was snooping around Ursula's lair" she informed King Triton.

"It was a sorceress named Akumuko, but she's long gone from this place. You don't have to worry about any intruders"

King Triton looked relived.

"That's wonderful to hear" he said.

"Thank you for taking care of this problem"

"Thank you for fixing our ship" Hikari returned.

"We wouldn't have been able to fix it without you"

King Triton wore a sad smile.

"I'm sure Ariel would have wanted me to help her friends when they were in need" he said.

Sensing that his help was not needed anymore, the ruler of the sea returned back to his kingdom.

Leon put away the tools he used to fix the ship and looked at his sister. He wasn't happy that she wore such a revealing top, but was even more upset by how close Riku was to her.

"Alright kiddies, time to get out of the pool" he said.

Hikari jumped out of the water, ready to continue on with their journey. When she left the water, her body went back to normal and was able to walk on two legs.

Riku and Ankoku went through the same thing however their bodies weren't as used to the change as Hikari's was. Every inch of their bodies was sore from using their muscles to swim. They could take a step without toppling over from the pain.

"My back!" Ankoku cried.

Riku cringed as he struggled to get up with shaky arms.

"My legs have never been this sore before" he groaned.

His eyes went wide when he realized what he said and looked at Leon. The gunblade wielder had such a nasty look on his face. He grabbed Hikari and steered her back into the ship and away from him.

Riku groaned and dropped his head back on the surface of the ship's fin. Sora helped him up and walked him back into the ship.

"Looks like you're not scoring any points today, huh?"

Riku shook his head and let his best friend carry him back inside.

/

"So why was Akumuko lurking around in Atlantica?" Sora asked.

While Riku and Ankoku were off to rest their bodies, Hikari had to be the one that explained everything.

"We honestly have no idea" she said.

"Although we did find something that didn't belong in Atlantica and figured she was looking for it"

She pulled out the blueprint and handed it over to Leon to read. He took the prints and examined what was written on the page.

"Operation Sun Child. That's a rather strange name" he muttered.

Sora and the others looked at the prints as well, trying to figure out what they were for.

"Gawrsh, it looks like some sort of machine" Goofy said.

Hikari nodded in agreement.

"We thought so, but we didn't know what it was for. It has to be something bad if Akumuko was looking for it"

Leon looked at the writing closer, finding it hard to read in some areas. Whoever wrote this out had horrible handwriting.

"I have no idea what is written on this page. It's too hard to read right now" he admitted.

" But I'm sure Aerith would be able to figure it out. No one knows how to decrypt writing like she does"

Sora's eyes lit up at the thought of seeing Kairi again.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" he cried.

It seemed like once again, Radiant Garden would hold the answer to all of their questions.

/

**A/N: Yeah, I know there wasn't any fighting in this chapter, but I thought it would be nice to take a break from fighting. We can't have all of the chapters be about fighting right? **

**So it looks like Hikari was able to find clues as to what Akumuko and Ultimecia are up to. But the question is what in the world is Operation Sun Child?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	23. A date

Chapter 23: A date

**A/N: Hey everyone! I just realized that since Riku and Hikari became a couple, they've never had an actual date yet! How cruel of me to make them wait out on being a couple for so long and not even give them one little date? Well, that's going to change since this chapter will be all about them! It'll be cute I just know it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

With the ship fixed up again, Mickey didn't waste any time getting back to Radiant Garden. Since Hikari found those blueprints depicting a strange machine, he realized that they finally had a clue regarding Utlimecia and Akumuko.

Whatever it is that they're looking for, they had part of it. If they could figure out what this machine did, they could figure out what their enemy was after.

But the next problem they faced was trying to figure out what the paper said. Everything was scribbled on the page in such a sloppy manner that it was nearly impossible to read. Some words would overlap others while others would be smudged.

It was impossible for the naked eye to read so they had to have technological help.

"You think Tron will be able to read this?" Hikari asked.

Leon nodded as he still studied the paper. Ever since he saw it, he never took his eyes off of it. It was as if he was searching for some hidden message within it or something.

"I don't see why he wouldn't" he said.

"If he could dig up information about Radiant Garden back in the old days, then decrypting an old piece of paper should be a walk in the park to him"

"I'm sure everyone will be happy to see us again, even though we haven't been gone for long" Tsukiko said.

"Although I'm sure a certain girl will be even more happy to see a certain someone in our group"

Sora blushed and laughed nervously. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he really missed Kairi and hoped she was ok while they were gone. He felt guilty for leaving her behind but he wanted her to be safe.

"I just can't wait to stuff my face into some ice cream" Ankoku said.

"I've been having withdrawal symptoms and I can't take it anymore"

"If you stuff your face with nothing but ice cream, it'll make you sick" Riku pointed out.

"And go straight to your thighs" he muttered the last part.

Ankoku smacked him in the head with her nun chucks.

"I heard that!" she growled.

"You got a lot of nerve telling your girlfriend's twin that they're becoming a fatty. What kind of boyfriend are you?"

Riku rubbed the spot where Ankoku hit him.

"First of all, you're not her twin, you're her nobody. Second of all, I meant it when I said that it's not healthy eating only ice cream and lastly stop swinging that weapon of yours around. You could hit someone else by mistake"

"Oh trust me, I don't make mistakes when it comes to me hitting you" Ankoku retorted.

Hikari looked at them nervously before looking at her brother.

"Ni-san, aren't you going to break this up?"

Leon looked at them dully and shrugged.

" Ankoku looks like she can handle it" he said.

Hikari hung her head.

"_Why do I even bother?"_ she thought.

/

It felt good to be back home even after being away for a short time. When Mickey landed the ship in one of the docks, she was one of the first to get off and look around. All the damage that Akumuko and Ultimecia did during the party was fixed and the town looked as good as new.

"I'm gonna head over to the lab and see what Tron can find" Leon said.

"In the meantime just try to stay out of trouble while the King and I figure this out"

When they left, everyone immediately headed off on their own.

"I want to see how Kairi is doing" Sora insisted.

"I wanna stuff my face with some ice cream" Ankoku said.

"I want to get a new collar for Lea to show he's my pet" Tsukiko said.

"Donald and I need to speak with Cid about the Gummi Ship" Goofy said.

When they all left, only Riku and Hikari remained. The two of them shifted nervously, not knowing what to do.

"Um…I guess it's just the two of us" Hikari said.

"Y-yeah" Riku stuttered.

Hikari crossed her fingers behind her back and shyly looked up at him.

"Do you want to walk around the town with me?" she asked.

Riku smirked and held out his hand.

"I would love to"

Hikari took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Her hand was tiny compared to his but she always felt safe when his fingers wrapped around her tiny hand. As long as Riku was near, she never had to worry about anything.

The two of them walked through the streets hand in hand like the cute couple that they were. Hikari looked up at Riku and titled her head as she thought of something.

"I just thought of something. Would this be considered as a date?"

Riku thought about it and nodded.

"I don't see why it wouldn't be"

Hikari smiled and leaned against him.

"Then that means this is our first official date as a couple" she declared.

Riku chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"Then we might as well make this first date a special one" he said.

They walked through the town watching as people went about their daily businesses. The street vendors were busy selling goods while people bought what they needed for the day.

Hikari enjoyed watching people go about with their shopping. It reminded her of the times when her mother would take Leon and herself to market's day and get them ice cream. Those were their special family time moments and she enjoyed every single one of them.

Riku felt the same way. Back when Namine was fixing Sora and Hikari's memories he and Taiyouko would venture down into Twilight Town and shop around the little stores. It tended to get a little annoying at times since Taiyouko always had to go into the perfume stores and spray him in the face, but he enjoyed spending time with the person he considered as a mother.

After looking around the stores for a while, they decided to take a break and sit near one of the benches. Riku bought sea salt ice cream for them to eat while they relaxed.

"Looks like Ankoku wasn't able to buy out all of the ice cream here" he joked.

Hikari laughed as she munched on her ice cream, enjoying the salty sweet taste. It was nice being able to take a break from traveling and fighting. After fighting heartless and nobodies for over a year, she would think that it would be easy by now but it was not. Every time she thought that she would get the hang of everything, something else would appear out of nowhere. It amazed her that she was still able to go on after all of this.

She felt Riku wipe something from the corner of her lips.

"You got some ice cream on your face" he teased.

Hikari blushed in embarrassment.

"Guess my mind is elsewhere at the moment" she said.

Riku shrugged as he finished the last of his ice cream.

"I wouldn't blame you" he said.

"With everything that's going on, I'm sure everyone is thinking about what will happen next"

Hikari played with her popsicle stick. She wondered what would happen next now that they found a clue about what Ultimecia was up to. Would they be able to stop her from going any further with her plans or would it just make things worse? Did they even have what it took to defeating her?

"Hey, Riku…do you think we'll be able to stop Ultimecia?"

Riku looked up at the sky, letting the wind blow through his hair.

"Perhaps" he said.

"I can't say for sure what might happen but my heart tells me that we have what it takes to stop her. We were able to stop Xemnas from obtaining Kingdom Hearts and from letting the heartless take over the worlds, I'm sure we can handle this"

Hikari sighed. She didn't think she could handle it.

"I'm starting to think that I don't have what it takes to stop her" she said.

"She controls over time, something that I've never faced with before. If I'm not careful it'll be over to all of us and she'll succeed with her plans. I wonder if I'm biting off more than I can chew"

Riku squeezed her hand and placed it in his lap.

"Don't talk like that, you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit" he said.

"You're not the same girl that I knew a year ago. Ever since I met you I always thought that you would need me to protect you but you always proved me wrong every time. Even when you lost your keyblade you proved to me that you didn't need it to save me from the darkness and save the worlds. You're a lot stronger than you think, Hikari. You'll stop Ultimecia, I know it"

Hikari smiled and leaned against Riku.

"How did I end up being with a sweet guy like you?" she asked.

Riku shrugged.

"No idea, maybe it was fate that brought us together, or we're just destined to be with each other"

Hikari snuggled closer into him, basking in his warmth.

"Well whatever is was, I'm glad it was you I fell in love with"

Riku wrapped his arm around her and held her close.

"Me too" he said.

The two of them enjoyed each other's presence and continued on with their little date.

They never realized that while they were relaxing, their enemy was planning.

/

Ultimecia tapped her fingers against her chair in agitation. Behind her mask, she was looking at Akumuko with murderous intention. She had sent her to do one simple little thing: grab the blue prints and get them back to her. It was supposed to be easy, but no, Akumuko messed that up as well. So now instead of her having those blueprints, Hikari and her friends had them.

She was not happy at all.

She dragged her long nails across her throne, showing how annoyed she was.

"Tell me, Akumuko…" she said. Her voice sending chills down the Heartless's spine.

"How is it that you failed to perform such a simple task? All I said was to grab those blueprints and bring them to me. It was just a simple task and yet you managed to fail even that"

Her hand gripped the seat tightly causing the wood to splinter from the force.

"And what's worse is that Hikari has her hands on those blueprints now. So now not only have you failed to capture her but you've let her see what we're trying to accomplish"

She flexed her nails, letting the dim light shine across them.

"I am not happy, Akumumo. Not happy at all"

Akumuko snarled and looked at her mistress. How dare she be treated like a child?

"It wasn't my fault! That world was crawling with guards and I-"

Ultimecia froze her body, rendering her useless.

"Of course it wasn't your fault" she cooed sickly.

"Just like it wasn't your fault when you let Hikari get away in Halloween Town, nor was it your fault when you let her friends beat you in Beast's Castle. It's not your fault at all"

She slammed her fist against the wood, shattering it.

"I don't want excuses! You have failed more times than you have succeeded and I have had it!"

She rose from her seat and went to her servant. She grabbed her face and dug her nails into her chin.

"You know, I didn't need to take you under my wing when Taiyouko abandoned you. I could have just left you out on the streets without a second thought. But no, I thought I saw potential, I thought perhaps you could help me reach my goals. I guess I was wrong, you're nothing more than an empty shell that used to belong to a sorceress. No wonder Taiyouko cast you aside"

She released the magic surrounding her and watch as the heartless fell to the ground. Akumuko dug her hands into the ground as she bit her lip. Her body shook with anger as she thought of Taiyouko. Her blood boiled recalling how she cast her aside while she favored Tsukiko instead.

She touched the side of her face that was covered by her hair at the memory. She wasn't going to let her get away from the humiliation she faced since she was created.

Ultimecia watched as she shook with anger. She should just finish her off now for failing so many times, but she was the only one who was capable of helping her with her plans.

"I'll give you one more chance" she stated.

"If you cannot give me Hikari or those plans then you'll wish that Taiyouko finished you off long ago. I won't take anymore failures"

She spun on her heels and left the room. She didn't care if Akumuko got up or was still on the ground. She had plans that needed to be taken care of and she couldn't waste anymore time.

Akumuko watched as she left and snarled viciously. She wasn't going to let her mistress get away with making her look like a fool.

She would get Hikari alright, but not because Ultimecia needed her. She wanted to watch Taiyouko crumble when she took the life out of her little girl's body.

And once she was done with Taiyouko, she would take care of her mistress as well.

"Once I finish with Taiyouko, you're going to wish that you never took me under your wing" she hissed.

/

**A/N: How nasty of me to leave a cliffhanger and such a cute little chapter. Looks like Ultimecia and Akumuko don't get along but then again they're people who dislike everyone. I hope I made Ultimecia nasty enough for you guys. And it looks like Akumuko is ready to kill someone. **

**What will Akumuko have up her sleeves next? **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


End file.
